Gatecrash
by fantasyra
Summary: A few years after the events in Exiled. The crew of the Exiled led by Taylor Hebert makes the decision to abandon all they know to throw dice at fate's feet. Utilizing tinkertech mostly created by Leet, they attempt to cross dimensions to save a friend and mentor and perhaps in doing so, find the peace their individual past's had denied them.
1. Arrival 1

**-Ye Old Disclaimer-**

Speical Thanks to EA and Bioware for Mass Effect, and Wildbow for the epic tale that is Worm. No money is being made by me (sadly) and all characters, rights and such all belong to the people who made them, which other than a few OC's, is not me. A huge thank you goes to my Beta/'s, Materia-Blade, MarkerIV, the BSdude, Suyrn, and Grui without whom, I'd never have gotten this far.

Welcome new and old, to the sequel of Exiled: Gatecrash  
*Special thanks to Candid Opinion for the title, it hit all the right cords.

gate·crash  
 **ˈɡātˌkraSH/**  
 ** _verb_**

to enter (a party or other gathering) without an invitation or ticket.

 **Arrival Story Arc: 1.1** **  
**

"Alright, doin' this _big_ , in five…"

I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly to keep myself calm. Steve was at the helm, Greg in engineering, and Dinah was sitting at navigation. We hadn't built the _Exiled_ with a typical command structure in mind, wasn't really our style. As such, our seating arrangement didn't conform to Alliance Shipyard Standards.

Helm in the middle, navigation to his left, and I was seated to Steve's right. I had a bit of everything around me. My eyes dancing between power levels for various systems, internal status checks, just about everything relevant. The comm was open to Greg, who was working with Atlas to keep everything just right. No easy thing, considering the sheer amount of experimental tinker tech we'd been pouring into the old girl.

"Four…"

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Dinah pause in her own calculations. The necklace that had been around her neck practically since Sebastian put it there had found its way into her hands. Eyes closed, she blew into it, highlighting the bridge momentarily in its blue flare. As I turned back to my tasks, I hoped this was one wish the relay granted. I wasn't worried about making it, per se; it was more to do with what was going to happen when we did. Hopefully, things went to script and we showed up nice and quiet like always. Alternatively, the Alliance Fleet attacks us for ripping a hole in reality right on their front door step.

"Three…"

I checked the stasis pods to find all three of them in perfect condition, backups were running ready, and they were all secured. A good thing to know as the ship began shaking under the stress of the power buildup. "Greg, adjust the MT23 flow rate down by two percent."

"Two…"

The shaking grew worse, making me wonder if we miscalculated somewhere, as I checked all the readouts again, but everything looked within specs. Of course, we were tinkertech space magiking this whole thing, so what looked _right_ really didn't mean shit.

"One…"

Pleasant thought to have, kinda late now though, right? Nothing left to do now, but enjoy the ride. The shaking in the ship doubled as my hands danced over the interface, taking care of the things I knew to fix as systems glitched, froze, or just flat out failed. Likewise, Steve's hands were flying over his own console, before he looked forward, a mad glint to his eye with a smile to match, as he triggered the jump.

"WE ARE FUCKING OUT OF HERE!"

Even as everything unraveled, I smiled widely, though I'm sure to anyone else but the gang, it could have been more disturbing than joyful. As absolutely stupid as it might have been right now, with reality bending, I was reminded of something Mom used to say as a joke every time Dad came home from work.

Hannibal ad portas.

Hannibal is at the gates.

The ship gave one great lurch. A blinding flash of light combined, with the feeling of every cell in my body exploding, overtaking me and rendering me insensible after my last thought.

 _We're coming Sebastian. We take care of our own: whether you remember us or not, we've never forgotten you._

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

I waited, sitting on the hood of the pitch black Charger Steve brought here for me. Of all the places I thought I'd end up for my last day on this Earth, this was about the last place I'd have thought I'd be. Stretched out in front of me was the complex for Estate Paper, for the first time in my memory, fully loaded with people, going about another day on the job.

My timing was good, as I'd only been waiting a few minutes when the person I was waiting for, walked toward me, a very recognizable man at his side. I kept my eyes on the first, ignoring the second. He looked good, far better than his counterpart ever did to my memory, but I knew why that was even before I came here. I read the dossier Steve put together, so I knew this Earth's version of dad never lost his wife. That's the kind of thing that would make a difference.

As he approached, he eyed me up. Not creepy like, or incestuous to my point of view, but assessing, confused by my appearance and why I asked to see him. I didn't change when I rode over here, so it was understandable. It's not every day a young woman who looked like she just walked out of a sci fi movie asking to see you.

A small smile tugged at the corner of my lips, as I greeted, "Mr. Hebert, thank you for agreeing to see me."

"I am very confused. I don't know you but you look familiar. Have I worked with your dad before?"

My eye twitched, but I kept the smile on my face. "Something like that."

"I see. Well, how can I help you, Miss…"

"Taylor. Taylor Hebert." I answered to the shock of the two in front of me. "Don't worry, I'm not some love child from your college days you don't remember. I'm something even weirder."

"...I think… No, actually I don't know what to think. Would you explain please?"

My smile widened at the confusion, even as I answered. "What I am going to tell you is going to sound impossible, unbelievable, but I'm not here to make you believe me, just to be clear. That said, on another earth, I was your daughter."

"My… are you feeling well?" Danny asked me. I did note he was looking closer, and by the glint in his eye, he was noticing the similarities. "I will admit there are some similarities between us, but…"

"Like I said, I'm not here to make you believe me. I'm here because I'm about to do something incredibly stupid, very dangerous, and I have no intention of ever coming back again. You see, on my earth my dad and I parted on rough terms and never reconnected. I'd like to leave with as little baggage as possible. Which is why I'm here. You are not my dad, but you look identical to him. If you don't mind, I'd like to say something, sort of close this part of me, before I move on."

"I-I see." Both men looked uncomfortably at each other before Danny turned back to me. I could see in his eyes, him turning it over in his mind. While parahumans were not unknown, they were still very new on this world. While my story was far fetched, it was just the right kind of weird, to be believable. After a few moments he nodded to me.

I slid off the car, standing in front of him, looking into his eyes. It was an easy thing to do, delude myself that I was talking to my dad. I had similar instances with Annette where I felt like I was talking to my mom. I took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, about how I left, the things I said. I just wanted to keep you safe. After you lost mom, you broke, inside. I was too young to help you, to understand, not to mention that was my mother I lost as well. That was something you never understood, I lost someone too. The fact neither of us handled things well didn't help, but, that does not excuse what I said."

Danny blinked, his shock increasing as I continued. "I am the supervillain Matriarch. I have taken territory, robbed, caused property damage, maimed and murdered. I put together a team of villains and rogues to do that and more. I did it all thinking it was the right thing to do, to help a little girl we rescued. Given the chance to do it over, I'd probably have done more, except for you. I think, that is the one thing I would have changed, had I known how things were going to go. I'd have told you, forced you to come with me. At the very least, I would have explained why I was doing the things I did."

I swallowed thickly, finally saying the things I never got to say to my dad. "I am sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry for everything you had to go through, while I was taking over Brockton Bay. The worries, the fears that drove you to helping the Protectorate. I know you thought you were helping, I know you did it because you loved me. For that, I forgive you, because I probably would have done the same, had I been in your place with what little you knew. I hope, wherever you are, you might find it in your heart, to forgive me too. I love you. Goodbye, Dad."

I turned away from Danny, reaching into my back pocket to hand him the envelope. "Here."

When he took it, I walked away heading to my bike. "What is this?"

"Pink slip to the Charger. Dad always wanted one. Never got around to it, after he found out Mom was pregnant with me. Consider it a 'thank you', for listening to the crazy kid you didn't have."

I ignored Danny's questions as they followed me to the Triumph. Once I had my leg over it, kicked it to life, I drove away. Putting the last of my past behind me, focusing on the future I hoped to win.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Dim lighting and fuzzy outlines dominated my vision a moment later. Even in my muddled state, I knew that 'moment' was subjective. No telling how long I was out, but most of the bridge was dead, emergency lighting casting the cabin in a harsh glow. Not something you want to see when returning to consciousness, but it wasn't exactly unexpected. It did verify one thing. We were alive. Hopefully, that meant the ship was still intact as well.

I did not want to know what Leviathan went through. That, while ironic, would just suck so much.

Bugs I kept on everyone told me only Greg and Miguel were mobile, both in engineering. I coughed as the acrid smell of burnt circuitry hit me. The cause, a panel not far behind me. I spun my chair to get a better look noticing, thankfully, that it was already dealt with by the ships automated systems. As I started to get a grasp for my situation, I left my seat moving to Steve, slumped into his console, interface fuzzed out and red.

Pulse steady when I checked, but he had a bad gash on his forehead. He'd probably be fine, which brought me to Dinah. She was already coming around when I knelt next to her, checking for damage. Other than a slight glaze to her eyes, she looked fine.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" I asked, raising my hand in front of her.

"Tw-" Dinah's gasp had me looking over my shoulder expectantly to the view port.

The object that dominated the window, was absolutely monstrous, and one both of us recognized. Like an enlarged version of her necklace, the construct looked like nothing more than a two pronged tuning fork, with a rounded base. Two rings spun around a giant dark energy singularity.

A mass relay.

Seeing it in front of me, for _real_ , I couldn't help but whisper, "Holy shit, we did it."

We stared for some time before I shook it off. Judging by our relative position to the relay, we weren't moving, though thankfully we were out of departure or arrival lanes. Whether we were dead in space remained to be seen, but one thing was for sure, we couldn't stay here like this. Someone had to have noticed our arrival.

"Wake Steve; I'm going to engineering to see how much damage we took."

"Alright," Dinah agreed, though her voice was shaky, eyes still glued to the view, her hand clutching her necklace tightly. I squeezed her shoulder to get her attention, before nodding and heading out. Most of the ship was running on emergency power only, something I noticed as I made my way to Engineering.

When I entered, I was instantly assaulted by Greg's voice. "Good, but keep the flow regulated or we're going to lose containment."

"Do I _look_ like a wrench monkey?"

Greg didn't even turn to Miguel as he replied. "Do you want us to blow up? I don't, and if that means you need to sit there tinkering with that flow regulator, that is what you are motherfucking going to do."

"How bad is it?" I asked, cutting off the argument taking place.

"Man, am I glad to see you. Things could be worse, but we lost the jump pylons on reentry. All that tech we added? All gone. We're on basic systems here. Right now, I'm shunting all power into life support, stealth, and the cloaking drive."

"Damn." I grimaced. "How long until we can get propulsion online? Its critical we get out of here before the Alliance finds us. They had to have noticed the spacial rip we caused getting here."

"If I do a quick reroute, I can give you it now, but we're going to be limited to in-system travel only. Long range FTL was lost when with the Jump drive, had them bound together to cut down on feedback, remember? Also, we can't have both running. We're either moving, or we're in stealth. Can't do both until we do some big fixes. That means planet fall, or a dock assuming we're in the right dimension."

"I saw a Mass Relay outside so I'm pretty sure were in the right place. The right time though? This, complicates everything…" I groaned, rubbing my eyes at hearing that. "Can you get me an extranet connection?"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't do much with it. I don't have sensors up yet, but if the things you told us were true, they have to be out there somewhere watching this area. Best not to give them something to pinpoint our location."

I nodded to his point. "Just need to refresh myself on some things."

I took the indicated console, quickly tapping into the nearest buoy. While the memories Sebastian gave me clued me into certain things, it wasn't like I had the full picture of all the things to come or that happened to him. He mostly gave me skills, associated memory flashes from time to time, but it was fragmented, not quite right and nothing I could consciously access. I took notes though, logs when something came up, trying to make sense of the big picture. Hopefully it gave us enough of an edge to stay ahead of things, but ultimately we weren't banking on it.

Half an hour later, I leaned back in my chair. Greg sitting next to me, done with what he could do for the moment. Waiting patiently for me to get my thoughts in order. When I looked at him, he silently handed me the datapad, our damage taking front page.

If anything my frown deepened.

"I know that look. How fucked are we?" Greg asked.

"Depends. Do you want the truth, or the feel good lie?"

Greg's head wobbled side to side a moment before he answered. "Lie to me."

"Things could be worse, but it's salvageable," I lied.

"Shit. That bad?"

"Probably not, but yeah," I answered. "Without stealth mobility, we're so outclassed we might as well be naked. All the tinker tech we accumulated besides yours is gone according to Atlas. We have maybe half our systems in the ship, running at a third power. Without long range FTL, we're stuck to relay systems. Oh, and the best part of them all, we fucked up. Best as I can tell, I think we missed our window by two years."

"Motherfucker. We got here too early?"

My voice lowered to a whisper. "Too late. According to the search I did, Shepard died two years ago. We won't be able to stop the Lazarus Project."

I felt Greg's hand on my shoulder, comforting me. "Okay, but we can still do this right? We still have options, yeah?"

I sniffed, wiping my eyes. "Yeah. Just have to make some adjustments. I… really wanted to stop the Lazarus Project from happening. Since we can't, we'll have to do something else. The big problem is, we're broken, time is a factor, and we need stuff. More information, a better sense of the galaxy, cover ID's since we don't technically exist, a galaxy map, shit like that. All of that is complicated by the fact we don't have the time to make the connections needed and we can't go to the Citadel until we get some of that going for us. We brought some salvage to make a few credits, but have no way to unload them until we can get to the Citadel. Damn sure cant do that on Earth, not right now anyways. So, yeah, we're pretty boned."

"Is Shepard back on his feet yet?"

I shook my head. "No, not even a rumor of him anywhere. Human colonies are disappearing, which tells me enough to know roughly _when_ we are, but that's all I'm getting. A rough sense."

Greg nodded, knowing how much I struggled trying to remember more, but not being able to. "Okay, so we need shit, and we're restricted to relay systems. Can we get to that safehouse you said Shepard setup?"

"Intai'sei?" I asked before shaking my head. "Phoenix isn't the relay system for Argos Rho, Hydra is. Not an option. No, we'll need to do something else considering our handicap."

"Okay, so where we going then?"

"Tuchanka."

"What's on Tuchanka?"

"Someone crazier than we are. I just hope he doesn't eat us before we can convince him to help."

 *****Author's Note**

While some readers do not like these things, I don't care. A few things to note about the story. Yes, it takes place in Mass Effect universe. It's going to take a while before Shep is even in the picture as the first three Arcs are devoted to the crew getting to him. Some character changes are in play, due to the time difference between when Exiled ended, and when Gatecrash starts. Unlike Exiled, Gatecrash is very much still a work in progress, and as such chapters will be posted as they are developed. They may not be beta'ed, and those chapters will be replaced as they are done. For everyone out there who might be looking for a refresher on who is who and who can do what, the last chapter of Exiled as a cast and crew page.

As always, I very much look forward to reviews, so please, let me know what you think of the chapters! I hope everyone enjoys the new installment to the story.


	2. Arrival 2

**Arrival Story Arc: 1.2**

I don't imagine there's a single kid who hadn't played hide and seek growing up. Pretty standard fare for just about anyone, or at least I would think so. When you are the one hiding, the trick is to have a spot where you can see the seeker, while not getting found, then move to another spot when his back is turned and hide there. Rinse, repeat. Not always an option, so the next best thing is to always to be faster. If you can outrun the seeker, you really don't need to worry about hiding at all.

Of course, if you can't do either, you're pretty screwed. Lucky for us, we had a third option.

I reached over opening the comm line to Greg. "We ready?"

"Oh yeah."

"Atlas, we need you on your game with those mass/destination calculations. There wont be a lot of time between jumps. I don't care about the decoys', but _ours_ need to be exact."

Atlas replied in his usual manner, that of sounding like a hundred people talking in sync. It made Steve shudder but I smiled. "Understood. I am ready."

"Don't look so worried, Steve, you loved my plan in L.A."

The thinker turned, apparently shocked by my comment. "The hell I did. I said there was no way it would work!"

"But it did," I argued, as I did a final check on our systems.

"That had more to do with the capes tracking us than any awesomeness of the plan itself." Steve muttered. "Two years later, I'm still surprised we got away with it."

"If it makes you feel any better, our tech is better this time."

"I'll feel better when we shake big mama. I'd rather not find out what kind of damage those guns can do. You know, first hand."

I agreed. The dreadnaught to our port was not something I was happy to see, when we got sensors back, but you had to work with what you had. "Looks like the _SSV Elburs_. She's Everett class, packing a eight hundred meter mass accelerator. Runs through the whole ship. It's capable of accelerating a one twenty-kilogram slug to a velocity of four thousand and twenty five kilometers a second. Thats about one point three percent of the speed of light. Each slug has the kinetic energy of about thirty-eight kilotons of TNT, or about two and a half times the energy released by the nuke that destroyed Hiroshima back in World War Two."

"Jesus Christ, how the fuck do you know shit like that? More importantly, why the fuck are you telling me that _now_?" Uber asked looking frazzled.

"Did I mention she can fire a round like that every two seconds?"

"I fucking hate you. Just… just get us out here."

I smirked. "Relax, Steve. If she does shoot us, we probably won't feel a thing."

Steve slunk into his chair. "So much hate for you right now."

I chuckled, reaching forward to prime the engines. "Greg, cut loose the rabbit and give me full power to propulsion."

The rabbit wasn't much more than a tinker sphere with a big engine. What made it special, and in our case exceptionally useful, was the scrambler installed. Messed with Ladar, giving it the appearance of a ship ten times bigger than it was. As our stealth systems died and we shot for the relay, the rabbit went the opposite way. Steve had a front row seat for what those guns looked like when they fired, just before we hit the relay. Sound doesn't travel in space, but you know what does? Light, and let me tell you something, if you've never seen a thirty-eight kiloton explosion before, it's something to see. As long as its not being directed at you, because the massive sphere of annihilation that is the end result of that slug hitting you, makes for a bad day.

The rabbit never stood a chance, but that was kind of the idea.

Everything blurred, resettled, then blurred again as I banked hard, aiming for the next relay. Even going as fast as we were, I wasn't really worried now, a fact reinforced by the fact no one appeared to chase us before we made our next jump.

"Man, I can not believe that worked twice." Steve chuckled, obviously pleased with being wrong.

I chuckled with him. "Helps that Alliance ships are forbidden to give chase through relays without command permission. By the time they got it, if they did, we were already gone."

"Why?"

"Too much risk of booby traps. S.O.P. is to send a recon ship that can drop out of the relay faster than something the size of a dreadnought. Sweep and clear, then signal the bigger ships through once it's safe. Otherwise, we could have left mines or something for them to run into. All it would take is a lucky placement to catch them with their barriers down at reentry, and we would have taken out one of the only seven dreadnoughts the Alliance is allowed by the Council. Billions in hardware and people. You get the idea. Cheaper to send rookies through in a smaller ship first, just in case, or just don't go. Signal one of the other fleets to come in from the other side to deal with us. You get the idea."

Steve smirked. "Just like old times, using the hero's rules against them."

I snorted as I nodded to forward. "Welcome to the Aralakh System, or the Krogan DMZ, as most call it."

Steve looked out the viewport, just taking it in. I smiled at the look on his face, as he realized he was now, officially, a spacer. It was the kind of thing he'd probably dreamed of, when he was younger, but it's a different feeling when you actually get to live the dream.

I turned to Dinah, seeing a similar star struck look on her face, as she looked out her own viewport. I reached over, nudging her shoulder to get her attention. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Dinah replied breathlessly. "It's just, we're really in a completely different solar system. It's just…"

"Cool, right?" I asked, smiling widely.

"Super cool!"

Chuckling, I turned back to Steve. "I'm going to wake up the others. I figure four hours before we get to Tuchanka. Page me in three?"

"Yeah. Sure," Uber returned, still a bit stunned. He did retake the helm though when I vacated it.

As I walked away, I couldn't help but smile at the pair. We were far from the seasoned spacers of the galaxy, but I wonder if any of them ever felt the same awe we did right now. Even with Sebastian's memories popping up now and then giving me a more practical perspective, I was in the same boat as the others. Giddy, at the thought that I, Taylor Hebert, now traveled the stars of the Milky Way. Only four years ago, the furthest I ever got from home was a four hour drive in an old honda, space travel a fantasy. Yet, here I was, only a few hours away from the Krogan homeworld, far from the planet of my birth. Dimensional shenanigans aside.

Heady stuff.

With those thoughts, I found myself activating the stasis pods to awaken our sleeping crewmates. With time to kill, since the cycle took about twenty minutes, I walked into our common room to start cleaning up. There was a lot to do since the room was trashed from our arrival.

I sighed as I went about picking up fallen pictures, cups, the occasional escaped Hot Pocket warmer. As I was moving the coffee table back, I noticed one of the few picture frames that wasn't a holo had fallen behind one of our armchairs.

I knelt down, reaching and pulling it to me. It wasn't until after I had it all the way out from where it fell, that I realized which one it was. I smiled seeing it, remembering the day it was taken.

It was taken inside the _Trident_ , the day we killed Coil. Right before we left the old wreck we worked out of back then. All of us in our individual body armors, minus helmets. Despite what we were going to go do, Steve decided we needed to lighten up a bit so came up with the idea of taking the picture and posed us. I was sitting in front, with Sebastian beside me. My eyebrow raised, barely visible behind my visor, a slight smile. Even still, I could see the worry in my eyes, self loathing about what I was going to do, while also seeing the determination to see it done. I was so messed up back then.

Sebastian, his trademark smirk on his face, eyes shining in mirth. Steve and Greg were standing behind us, back to back with their arms folded, also smirking. Somehow they managed to get Paige and Sharee to get in on it, both were in their old costumes, sans masks, on our right and left respectively. Chatika's hologram was even there, hovering above Sharee's omni tool.

It even had a caption across the top and bottom of the frame, 'The Actual View Inside: of a Can of Whoop Ass.'

I snickered reading it, metal fingers brushing along the frame. Hard to believe how far things have come, since those days. I stood up, putting the frame back where it belonged on the wall. Pausing to take a moment to remember, before returning to the task at hand.

Clean up lead to some repairs while our transit closed. It was while I was putting the panel back on a damaged power junction, that Steve's voice came over the PA.

"The time is… whatever the fuck the time is here, and we have just arrived at sunny Tuchanka. The temperature is an awesome one hundred and sixty degrees, bring sunscreen, partly cloudy with a chance for dismemberment! As we prepare our descent, I would like to remind everyone not to pet the Krogan, they really don't like that. Once again, thank you for flying Exiled Space Lines, and I hope you have a nice day! No refunds."

My laughter was joined by Greg and Miguel, as they finished up their own patch work. Somewhere else in the ship, I could hear the sounds of the girls laughing as well. Climbing to my feet I made my way back to the bridge as the ship shook slightly from our re entry, to find Steve's voice answering someone on the comm.

"Picking up my kid from daycare, what the hell do you think we're here for? Heard this was the best place to get a tan."

"Very well, human." An annoyed voice returned. Pretty sure the speaker was salarian, they had a unique voice type. His annoyance became a professional boredom as he continued. "The CDEM officially advises you that no efforts will be made to extract any civilian from Tuchanka should you find yourself caught in clan warfare. You enter the DMZ at your own risk."

"Awesome sauce. Wanna stop targeting us now?"

Placing hand on his shoulder to quiet him, as I answered. "Noted, CDEM. We are bound for Urdnot and will be leaving later today, or possibly tomorrow. We know the risks."

"Very well, CDEM, out."

I looked to our sensor net, seeing the targeting locks vanish. I looked to our pilot as he manipulated the screens in front of him. "You know, picking a fight when we don't even have rocks to throw back, not the best idea."

"Man didn't have to talk like that. Fucking rude, you know?"

I nodded. "True, but we are no longer The Exiled, Steve. We're nobodies here. No name, no rep, no past to shape how people look at us. Most importantly, no stupid game of capes. Different environment, we need to adapt."

He nodded as I looked at our screens, judging our descent time. "Twenty minutes to planet fall. I'll get our gear ready. This is Tuchanka, after all."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Steve and I took turns getting ready and piloting. By the time he retook the helm, all of us were crowded on the bridge. For Dinah, Sharee and Miguel, this was their first look at a world other than Earth. For the rest of us, the first planet outside our solar system. Little Alex was too busy playing with Atlas to really care one way or another.

After a few minutes of appreciating the view, Paige summed it up for all of us. "This is depressing."

Heads nodded, shocked and appalled was the facial expression of the hour as I explained, "Get good look guys, this was almost us, back in the day. Might still be the fate for Earth Bet, considering the game they play. Then again, humanity might rally, it might be avoided, but that's not our problem anymore. For the Krogan, not so much. Happened not long after they learned to split the atom."

"Wow, bright ray of sunshine you are." Sharee muttered, as she turned away from the bomb blasted landscape.

I shrugged. "Why do you think I wanted out? It, just didn't seem worth it, to drag them kicking and screaming to the truth. The whole cape scene was just, really stupid when you think about it."

Our speed dropped as we started our straight descent downward. I continued, "The Krogan were always clan like, more so after the bombs. To survive, they built huge underground clan holdings. That's where we're going, Clan Urdnot's bunker. It's about as close to a city as it gets on Tuchanka."

Steve's fingers danced along the panel, keeping it just right, as the Exiled was almost too long to use this particular entrance. When we finally touched down, I know I wasn't the only one who breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, Sharee, you and Miguel can finish up the small stuff. Atlas can help you if you need anything fabricated. Greg, do you have that list of things we need?"

"Yeah, here."

I took the datapad, sliding it into the thigh pouch in my armor, as I led the gang to cargo bay, and incidentally our weapons lockers. "Alright, those of you coming with, just remember the Krogan are a warrior race. Kind of like the Klingons, but more prone to eat you after they kill you. They like big shotguns that would tear off our arms if we tried to use them, and beating things with them or giant hammers. Also, just because you have some distance between one, don't take that at face value, they like things up close. Prone to rush, use their super strength to hurt their opponent, and headbutting. A thing to note about that, their skulls are reinforced with thick natural plating, so it's going to hurt. A lot. They also regenerate insanely fast. Best thing is to stay quiet and hope they don't think you're looking at them funny. So helmets unless you think you can keep the gawking down."

"Lovely," Paige deadpanned.

I already had my pistol and knife on me, but I as I looked at the weapons rack I noticed the Kneecapper. One of Greg's works based on a failed project of Sebastian's. Sebastian was trying to create non-lethal weapons we could use in our day to day, and stumbled across bean bag rounds. Great idea... until he went to test it. Come to find out, bean bags were not made with mass acceleration in mind. The bag explodes under that kind of stress after a few feet creating a shower of mass accelerated _beans_. The end result? One seriously tore up practice dummy missing its legs, and a peppered bulkhead. Sebastian loved that shotgun. I told him not only no, but hell no!

Greg made one anyway.

I smiled as I holstered the Kneecapper on my back where my rifle usually went. "Questions?"

"Man, do you know how weird it is you know this shit, but you couldn't tell me this two hours ago, when I asked?" Steve asked, as he holstered his own shotgun and rifle.

"You know as well as I do, Uber, I don't have a lot of control over it. Once I remember, I can recall it, but until it pops up…" I shrugged, turning away. I'd been dealing with it since we left Brockton Bay to start our exile so, to me, it really wasn't a big deal. I did notice I was getting more and more now that we were here, in Sebastian's dimension. Hopefully I'd get something useful that would help us with finding him.

I waited while our loading ramp lowered. I was joined by Siren, Leet, and Vates, before Uber finished gearing up. All of us wearing helmets, except for me. Once the ramp touched down, we walked toward the four Krogan waiting for us. The leader of the pack, a hulking brute with purplish cranial plates and dark yellow eyes, sneered at us.

"Humans, off worlders must present themselves to the Clan Chief before you are given leave to conduct business here."

"Of course," I said.

"You will be respectful when you speak to him. Your… stay here, depends on it."

Looking at the weapons held by those behind him, I understood what he really meant. Grovel, or end up the main course at tonight's fiesta. "Understood."

The leader grunted disgustedly before he turned and led us through the complex. Took us about thirty minutes, before he finally stopped. Most of us were huffing a bit at the pace, but none of our escort was so much as winded.

The way we looked around, had our guards sneering even more at us. We were clearly tourists. For the others, unhappy tourists, since there really wasn't much to see, unless you had a thing for bomb-blasted apocalypse decor. We were made to wait at the base of where the Clan Chief had his throne set up, just a huge hunk of rock in the middle of a great room. Around us, various krogan went about their day, which meant more than a few headbutts, some weapons fire, and lots of ryncol being drunk. I couldn't see much of what was going on by the Clan Chief except for the two krogan there, arguing about something.

We ended up waiting for an hour, before it stopped. By then, the gang was pretty done with just standing here but weren't willing to get into any conversations or make any obvious movements that could have been considered threatening. Our escort grunted at us, and we followed them up the steps, taking our places as he informed the Clan Chief of our arrival. The gang several paces behind me as I stood center stage.

The Clan Chief of Urdnot leaned forward, the three tears in his brow plate shown in stark relief. Wide set eyes glittered with an intelligence most wouldn't have believed possible from such a lizard like british figure.

"I am Urdnot Wrex, Clan Chief and Battlemaster for Clan Urdnot. Speak, female. Why have you come here?"

My reply was in a series of grunts, growls, and one deep rumble in my throat. From my voicebox, it all came out pretty weak, but it generated the reaction I expected it would.

The bigger krogan that stood to Wrex's right, stood straight up, his lip vibrating with his snarl. The other one growled showing his teeth. Other krogan who heard me pulled shotguns out, staring angrily at me. Wrex only narrowed his eyes.

"You have a quad on you, female, to come here and make such a demand. Have I killed a relative of yours maybe? A mate?"

I shook my head slowly. "No."

"Then why are you claiming 'Blood Rights' in the old tongue?"

"For what you owe Shepard."

"Shepard was swallowed by the void."

"It spat him back out."

The grunt that came from Wrex was easily heard by all, and indicated my response amused him. "Can't say I'd blame it if that were true. Shepard always was a hard human to chew. What do you know?"

I kept myself standing tall, my voice firm when I replied. "He's alive, and Cerberus has him. I plan to change that. Specifically, I intend to get him back, and I need your help to do it."

"Hmm. Big words for a little female. What makes you think you can?"

"The question is, Urdnot Wrex, not if I can, but will you pay the debt you owe him and help me do it?"

The krogan on Wrex's left shook his head, his growl even louder than before, as he took a step toward me. "Disrespect! Who are you to talk to the Clan Chief that way, _human_?"

My eyes stayed on Wrex for a moment, seeing the curiosity in his eyes at what I was going to do. Knowing he wasn't going to interfere, I addressed the other one, "I haven't given you leave to speak to me, _whelp_."

Behind me I heard Uber sigh, and Leet mutter, "Oh fuck. Here we go again…"

Knowing that the guys would have been watching for it, I gave a very slight sign with the fingers of my left hand, indicating they needed stay out of it. The krogan, still growling, stomped toward me. The ground shaking slightly to his steps. I didn't move until he was right in front of me, trying to stare me down. No one noticed the very small flies land where I wanted them to on his armor.

Just as he came to a halt, I pulled my knife, slashing across his huge throat. Blood gushed like a fountain spraying me, as I half spun behind him. The Paladin pulled faster than my opponent expected, jerked with each quick pull of the trigger putting a single round into the back of each of knee. The barrel was well inside his kinetic barriers, taking them out of the equation. Each bullet tore through the lightest part of his armor, both natural and artificial, bringing the brute to the ground. His howl of pain and anger ringing in all our ears as he turned to swing, only for me to put two more through his eyes.

Even before his body slumped to the ground, I had my weapons holstered, addressing the watching crowd. "Anyone else have a problem with the human?"

A roar and charging footsteps answered my challenge. I turned to find the leader of our escort running at me, shotgun in hand. The stock of my own raised, allowing me to grab it, aim, and fire in one seemingly effortless motion. Compared to my earlier moves, this was almost casual.

The weapon kicked hard in my artificial hand, making my shoulder ache familiarly, like an old friend saying hello. The charging krogan, however, was blown right off his feet, landing on his hump. Dead, before he even realized he was shot.

Once again I holstered my weapon, looking around. "Any _other_ takers?"

"Yeah, you know Shepard, alright." Wrex's lazy voice broke the ensuing silence. "What do you need?"

Instead of answering, I pulled the datapad, handing it to him. His calculating eyes quickly looked it over, before they returned to me. I waited, as Wrex assessing eyes studied me for some time, before he eventually nodded. "Talk to Ratch, down past the varren pits. He'll help you get supplied with a few things. You have Clan Urdnot's protection while you're here."

My nod was respectful, but not submissive, as I turned to leave. I knew a dismissal when I heard one. My eyes fell on Vates, as I moved to pass her by. Seeing her stunned posture, I paused. "Now you know the other side of what we do. Bit different than on the forums, isn't it?"

"You-I-" She sputtered.

I smiled weakly, giving her a half shrug. "Sorry, but you were going to have to learn it sooner or later. The galaxy, its not the epic we want it to be. Sometimes, you have to get dirty, to keep the nice things clean."

I looked at the others. Siren was the only other one a bit shaken at the violence. Like me, the guys were pretty old hands with this kind of thing. "Come on, lets go see this 'Ratch'."

We moved around the bodies, all of us being watched, as we descended the stairs. The varren pits weren't hard to find, they took up a good portion of area in front of Wrex's throne. We only just walked past it, when I noticed the krogan that was kind of recognizable. I adjusted our course to take us to him. Around him were all sorts of crates, salvage for sale by the look of it, and an old varren. Its bulbous eyes watching us intently, the spins sticking out of its back quivering slightly.

"Ah, the humans."

"Ratch?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's me. Just got the Clan Chief's message. We'll bring you what he requisitioned to your ship. Also authorized you for thirty thousand credits. Feel free to have a look at my kiosk, see if theres anything you need."

I looked to Leet, nodding to the device. He might have thought of some last minute things that didn't get added.

"Seriously? He gave us money?" Siren asked. "After Matriarch whacked two of his guys?"

I snorted as Ratch chuckled, answering her. "Wrex didn't like them anyways. Kin to Urdnot, but distantly. Around here, being brood relations really doesn't mean as much as it might to your species."

My attention returned to the varren, noticing it was looking at me, head tilted slightly as if it was puzzled.

Leet looked up from the Kiosk. "Don't suppose you have any of these mining probes do you? Says out of stock, but we could use some. Hell, even one would work."

I knelt as Ratch turned around, opening the crate behind him. "I might, but I'll have to look. This isn't the Citadel or Nos Astra. I have better things to do than count parts and pieces."

Sitting on the table next to me, was a large hunk of meat. Never seen a piece that green before, but then again, I didn't know where it came from, or whom. When I picked it up, the varren raised to his haunches, paying close attention. Not sure what made me think that since his eyes didn't exactly have any pupil that I could see to know, but that was what it felt like.

I was actually surprised it didn't just lunge for the meat. Then again, considering the scars on his body, and the general fading to his hide, he might have been on the upper years of his species. Maybe trained then. Not sure exactly how or what gave me that idea, but I didn't question it. Instead I held out my hand, smiling when the varren gently rotated his head, taking the meat in his teeth. It didn't take him long to have it down.

If anything I smiled wider, reaching over to scratch him between the spines. His head tilted, eyes looking weird, like they were sparking, as his body contorted to put as much of it in the way of my stiff fingers as he could as his long tongue rolled out of his mouth, slobbering over my boots.

"Hey!" Ratch shouted. "What are you doing to Urz?"

"Just giving him a scratch. Sorry, didn't mean to mess with your varren," I answered, as I stopped and rose. Urz looked almost heartbroken, as I turned to the confused krogan looking at me.

"He's not mine. Urz's master was killed in clan war a few years ago. Been roaming around alone ever since. Let's me feed him but that's about it." Ratch explained, still looking confused as his eyes turned from the varren to me. "Used to be the best pit fighter in clan Urdnot but hasn't gone near a fight since. Never seen him let anyone touch him before…"

I shrugged, not really having anything to offer, as I turned to Leet. "We set?"

"Yeah." The tinker replied, holding up one of the probes he wanted. "You'll love these. Anyway, Ratch was saying we're going to be here a few hours, while they bring up the materials we needed."

I nodded as I took a look around the area. We were still being watched. A mix of curiosity and anger that made me think we'd spent about all the time ashore that we could afford. "Add that green slab of meat to our tab and lets get back. Preferably before I have to shoot someone else. Wrex might like the next one."

Stuff collected, we returned to the Exiled, under the careful watch of every krogan we passed. I noticed more than a few respectful looks, but not nearly as many as the confused or merely curious ones. Even though there were only a few angry eyes, I was glad to put my boots on the loading ramp.

"Figures."

I stopped, turning to Steve noticing he was facing behind us. When I turned to see what had his attention, I noticed Urz sitting on the ground, large eyes focused on me. As my eyes met his, he lowered himself, crawled forward a foot, then sat back, all the while looking at me.

"I'm not cleaning up after it," Steve said.

I smiled at his comment. "I always wanted a dog."

Steve snorted at my comment, as I tilted my head at the ship. Taking the hint, Urz practically raced passed us he ran inside to explore. It was followed quickly by several shrieks, and Miguel's scream. Ahem, manly yell, of ' _Madre de Dios!'_

Only one voice sounded at all happy to see Urz, that of little Alex, as he squealed, "Fishdoggy!"


	3. Arrival 3

**Arrival Story Arc: 1.3**

A couple of hours ended up turning into about ten. While the supplies Wrex gave us arrived as promised, it took longer to effect the repairs we needed, the last of which our drones were finishing under Atlas's management. While I never thought of the Exiled as being a pretty ship, her design had grown on me over the years. The patchwork repairs, while effective, didn't really improve her look. She definitely looked like she'd been through the ringer, though Steve said she'd be fine with a new coat of paint.

Still, we had our start and were in better shape than we were yesterday. I say yesterday since night had fallen some time ago. Not that it was easy to tell down here in Clan Urdnot's bunker city, however the cooler temperature was welcome. It was still hot enough to be uncomfortable, which was why I'd taken off my armor and dressed in the lightest work clothes I had.

Currently, I was studying a hitchhiker I found. It looked sort of like a spider in the legs, but with more of a wasp like body. His wings reminded me of a dragonfly's, long double set sprouting from its back. However, my main focus was on the tail. It was scorpion like, but from what I was sensing as I moved it about, far more muscular with powerful hydraulic glands inside for injecting, what I was sure, was some kind of poison. No idea what it did yet, but I'd figure it out once we managed to get an extranet connection. The two krogan who were assigned to watch us, were mostly watching me as I studied my new friend. Whatever the bug was, they recognized it and eyed it warily.

Even more reason to study it. If it made a krogan pause, it was worth study.

"You're creepy when you do that, you know that right?" Paige said playfully as she sat down next to me.

"Isn't he beautiful?" I returned with a smile before looking back at the insect that spanned the width of my hand. "I think he's the Tuchanka version of a wasp. He's about as fast my dragonflies but with a stinger. See the tail? Dense muscles that can penetrate thick hide, like on varren and krogan. Not sure what the poison does, but considering how everything eats something else on this planet, I'm willing to bet it does something to counter natural regeneration. That or it's a super fast paralytic. Maybe like a mosquito? You know, numbs the area it stabs or something. I'm actually leaning with the latter since his mandibles look like they are more of the gouging kind. Maybe a scavenger who snags a chunk out of you then runs away. He's fast enough."

"Only you, Taylor. How many are you bringing with us?"

"Just a breeding pair for now." I answered before lowering my voice. "Results?"

Paige shook her head, looking at the stacks of containers we were still sorting. "No go. It might be my power only affects humans, I never could affect other things like dogs or cats. That guy I was sitting next to didn't so much as twitch, and I ran through a whole song while going through that crate. The only thing I managed to do was get him to nod along to the lyrics."

"What were you trying to make him do?"

"Sing with me, but it didn't work."

I nodded. "Huh. You might be right. We'll try it again when we encounter another race, meanwhile we'll add it to what we know of your powers limits. It's good information either way, since it means we won't rely on it, only for it to not work at a critical juncture."

"Yeah, not really fussed by it. We already know how effective it is against humans. Still, I kind of feel ripped off. I'm not much use without my power."

"I can see how you might feel that way, but you know that isn't true, Paige." I argued. "We are not our powers, and you can do a lot of stuff we either can't, or just don't because we don't think of it. Besides, look at me. I can only control things with a simple brain. Generally, that's pretty weak, but I've made it work. Now that I have a galaxy's worth of new bugs to play with, it's sort of better, but that is offset by the fact that just about everything worth killing wears armor and carries mass accelerated weapons. Bugs are pretty useless against sealed suits and internal radar systems, much less mechs. You could control a whole ship of people if we took over the comms."

"I guess you're right. Well, no use being bummed by something I can't change. Where are we on departure? We know where we're going next?"

My new friend jumped to my shoulder where it stayed freeing up my hands to pick up the datapad next to me. Our 'guards' looked at each other uncomfortably as I answered Paige low enough they wouldn't be able to hear. "Yeah, Wrex had the contacts we needed. Our next stop is the Crescent Nebula, Tasale system. Specifically, the second planet of that system, Illium."

"I hope it's better than here." The master cape grumbled as she looked around. "Tuchanka isn't growing on me, I wouldn't mind a change of venue. Just out of curiosity, why Illium?"

"Can't say I blame you for thinking that. As for why there, we are going to see an asari named Liara T'soni. She's an information broker there."

"Asari huh? The information broker thing worries me though. They're not exactly the kind of people you can trust."

"T'soni we can. She was on Sebastian's team with Wrex."

"Ah, cool. Always good to know we're being kept in house, so to speak. I trust that a lot more than just visiting some random broker. What are we seeing her for?"

"Wrex convinced her to set us up with ID's that are guaranteed to fool Alliance and Citadel Security. Our covers going to be that we're Alliance Corsairs, which gets us access to Alliance docks and the black market channels they use. We'll need both to reacquire long range FTL drives. This isn't the kind of thing you want transmitted on an open extranet line so we're going to pick it up."

"Corsairs?"

"Think space privateers who work for the Alliance. All off the books of course, since, you know, piracy is sort of illegal in Citadel space."

"Heh, we're back to being pirates then."

"Pretty much, though it's just for access to resources. At least its a role we know how to play."

"True enough. Still, I can't see that getting us far on the Citadel. Pirates were never welcome in civilized society. I know we weren't."

"That is the other half of what we're there for. The Corsairs thing is just our cover, T'soni is supposed to provide us with a public set of ID's as well."

"So, we're doing this oldschool. Cape IDs, and civilian?"

"Like you said, just like old times."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

With the _Exiled_ being short on space, none of us had our own rooms. Instead, we had a single changing room which had pretty much all of our personal stuff. Things like clothes, jewelry, accessories, things like that. An indicator on the door let everyone know it was in use, and by which gender to prevent that awkward moment of having one of the guys walk in on one of us girls, and therefor getting shot. It went without saying that the guys were always careful to pay attention to the door after Greg walked in and caught me half naked once. While I only grazed him, it set the standard rather firmly.

So, when the door opened as I was putting on my bra, I wasn't worried about who it was, not that I didn't know anyways since she was carrying one of my ants on her shoe.

"You're rather dressed up for putting on your armor," Paige noted as I picked up my shirt.

"Why would I wear my armor on Nos Astra?"

"When do you _not_ wear your armor when you leave the ship?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but paused as I thought about it. She had a point. "Well, generally people try and kill me when I go out in public."

"True, so if we don't have to worry about that here, why are you carrying your knife and sidearm?"

I turned around to face the cape behind me as I tied the strings of my shirt behind my neck. "Why wouldn't I go armed on Nos Astra?"

"You're weird, you know that?" I shrugged, not answering as Paige asked me another question. "So, again, why are you dressing up? Those are your feel good jeans, and the only times I've ever seen you wear that shirt was during the few times I could talk you into going out with me on Earth, whatever it was, we camped on."

"No reason," I mumbled as I opened my jewelry box. Paiges eyebrow rose seeing me sort through them.

"Uh-huh, _sure_. Come on, Taylor, what's going on? Does this have anything to do with why we didn't come here in the first place? I mean, yeah, Wrex helped, but it sounds like we could have done all that here."

"You know why we didn't, Paige. Not enough Helium-3. We lost the extra tanks when we arrived. Besides, we needed to set down to fix the damage to the hull before it got too bad. Tuchanka was the closest that had a friendly place to do that."

"You know, just from what little I got while I was there, the words 'friendly' and 'Tuchanka' shouldn't ever be used in the same sentence. Especially since you killed two people not long after we arrived. That aside, you're avoiding the question. Something's got you on edge, and that usually ends with someone having a bad day."

"As for me killing those two krogan, you need to understand the culture, and Wrex. For most krogan, a good show of force sorts things out. For Wrex, that usually means dead bodies. I don't know why you think I'm on edge about anything, Paige. We shouldn't have any problems here," I lied as I took out one of my earrings.

Paige scoffed at me before she removed the little stud out of my hand, replacing it with a different set. Standing behind me she started to fix it to my ear. "You remembered something and I'm guessing that is what has you like this."

I sagged slightly. "Look, it's not a big deal, alright?"

Paige didn't reply, but her reflection raised an eyebrow, clearly demonstrating her lack of belief in my statement. I relented after she finished helping me with my earrings.

"Fine, it's T'soni."

"I thought it might be. Never known you to call someone by their last name like that. Is this going to be a problem?"

"I don't think so."

"I love how sure you sound about that. What's the deal?"

I folded my arms, trying to put it into words that didn't make me sound like an idiot. "Do you know why I wanted to go so far back in his past?"

"Well, I figured it had to do with him not going all super cyborg and stuff."

I rolled my eyes giving my metal arm a rap to make my point. "Not actually something that bothers me, but yeah, him not needing to be revived was something I wanted to avoid. However, the main reason was so we could have been part of the original crew. Ever hear the term 'Band of Brothers'?"

"Great movie series."

I snorted at her comment, nodding to her point. "They were like that. Just like we are now, if not more so by the end."

"Okay, I'm following, but kinda not. Shouldn't this be a good thing for us? She'll help."

The door opened letting Dinah walk through, hair wet and a towel wrapped around her. Her eyes looked to each of us in surprise. "We don't have to wear our armor?"

I shook my head. "No, but bring your batons. Just because I dont expect trouble, doesn't mean you should go unarmed."

"Okay. What are you guys talking about?"

Before I could say anything, Paige did. "T'soni, the woman Wrex sent us to see."

Dinah paused for a moment, a frown on her face before she sighed. "I got nothing. While there were times when I really wished my power would stop working, there were times it came in very handy. Is she like Shepard?"

"She's asari," I replied. "Her whole race is born biotic. I don't think she is anywhere near Sebastian's skill levels, but from what I remember, shes pretty damn good."

"That would do it. I can sometimes see things through the void, but usually only if I have a personal connection to them. Like with you guys, I'd get glimpses, stuff out of context, you know? Right now I'm drawing a complete blank. What's the deal with her?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out." Paige answered while looking pointedly at me.

"You guys remember—," I sighed, just getting it out. "You guys remember what I was like when we lost Sebastian, right?"

Both girls nodded. "Well, T'soni's about two years into something like that."

Paige nodded, though I could see she didn't quite get what I meant. Dinah however, her eyes told me she did. "Oh. She's not…"

I shook my head. "No. That was, someone else."

"Oh crap," Paige cursed as she looked at me. "She loved Shepard?"

"She had a thing for him, yeah. He knew how she felt, but he'd just lost Williams, and was all about the mission." I shrugged.

"Okay, well, while that sucks, you would think she would still be all gung-ho to help. Especially if it meant getting him back to get her shot. Well, she'd think so until you shot her for trying, but you get the idea."

I smiled weakly at Paige. "Except, she already knows. About the Lazarus Project, she's the one who gave his body to Cerberus."

Two pairs of eyes looked at me in stunned surprise, I shrugged again not really having much more to tell them. "I knew how Sebastian felt about extreme measures, about taking his choice away from him. I never agreed with him, about soloing Leviathan. I spent months cursing him as much as I hurt to not have him there. Did you guys think I _didn't_ consider bringing him back? I'd have made a deal with fucking Bonesaw if it meant getting Sebastian back.

"But, he'd never have forgiven me for it. This thing Cerberus is doing, it shook him. Sebastian had no delusions of living to an old age, always figured he'd go out while serving. But getting brought back to life to do it again?"

I shook my head again. "It shook him badly, but he dealt with it only to end up getting killed at the end of this thing to wake up on Earth Bet. Revived, _again_."

Paige shuttered. "Okay, while the idea of you cutting deals with the Slaughterhouse Nine freaks me out to no end, I can see what you are saying, she couldn't let him go; but isn't Cerberus the enemy? You know, like Empire Eighty Eight, but instead of being white supremacist they're all about humanity? Don't they hate aliens?"

I moved the stool beside me over so Dinah could sit in front of the mirror. I moved out of the way as she started brushing out her long hair before I answered Paige. "Pretty much, but just because you don't like something, doesn't mean you can't work with them for a common goal."

"Oh. Well, do you think she'll help us get him back then?"

"Depends," I answered vaguely.

"On?" Dinah asked looking at me through the mirror

"If we can made a deal for something she wants even more than Sebastian, or if I have to blackmail her into it. Then again, this whole thing could just blow up in our faces too, which is always a nice thought."

XxXExiledXxX

"Welcome to Nos Astra, The Gateway to the Terminus Systems."

The gang stood around me, taking in the absolute splendour that seemed to ooze from every single inch of the docking port we stood on. All around us, various other traders and travelers went about their own business ignoring most of it as old hat, and ignoring the obvious first timers in their midst. Everything was familiar to me, like I somehow stepped into a dream or movie set and found it real, but still very new.

If there was one thing you could say about the asari's views of architecture and decor, it was they liked things shiny, new, high-tech, and very expensive. Even our port had that feel, and this was a working area. If the gang though this was something, they were going to seize when we got to the trade floor.

"Man, I had no idea 'blue' came in that many shades," I heard Steve mutter as a group eight asari maidens walked past us.

Greg's voice, thankfully lowered as he leaned into me, was next. "Hey, you know, not to be rude or anything, but those tentacles they have coming out of their heads, they don't flop around or anything do they? Because, my weirdness levels are running pretty high right now."

I rolled my eyes at the tinker. "Scalp crests, not tentacles. Once we manage to get unrestricted extranet access, you guys need to go to school. I'm not fielding these questions all the time. Also, try not to stare too much guys? They're going to think we're backwater colonists or something."

"Specifically, you two," I said as I looked pointedly at Steve and Greg. "You've seen breasts before. Keep the ogling to a minimum."

"Never seen them like that," Steve muttered as he stared at an older asari stepping off one of the transports. The woman in question had to be in her matron days, judging by her bust alone. I sighed. I guess I should be used to it by now, but my… _lack_ of endowment was never more apparent than it was now, being around an entire race that took the term, 'stacked' to a completely ridiculous level.

"Is there any real significance to the tattoos some of them have on their faces?" Paige asked, drawing my narrowed eyes away from the smirking cape. "I'm not seeing a lot of similarities between the ones who have them. Is it a cultural thing?"

I waved them to follow me as I started us forward. The loading ramp closed behind us sealing the ship, not that I was worried. While I wouldn't trust any paperwork the locals would give me to sign, one thing Nos Astra prided itself on was docking security. The platoon of mechs standing around were only the 'visual' deterrents.

"No that I know of," I answered Paige. "Keep in mind, I don't have all the answers guys, but if things go well here, you can start using the extranet to find answers yourselves."

"Cool," Paige returned.

Dinah matched my steps next to me as she asked, "What do you know? About here or the people."

I thought through the little I knew, thinking out my answer as we boarded the elevator. Once we were all inside, it shot upward going so fast everything outside blurred, or would have if there was anything to really blur. Considering how tall the buildings were, and how far below us the surface was, it just looked really fast.

"You guys saw the readout on the planet's surface. Illium is a gardenworld, for all that the surface is about a hundred and forty degrees most places. That's why the asari built towers this tall, like us that's just too hot to comfortably live in." I pointed out the window at the forest of buildings all around this one to make my point.

"Other than that, you can think of Illium as the legal version of a black market paradise. Everything is legal here, except premeditated murder. Drugs, prostitution, just about every vice a sapient might have can be bought and sold here. Including people. One thing that stands out the most from the information Sebastian gave me: don't sign anything here without Atlas having a look at it first. No telling what you are agreeing to in the fine print."

"So tech and stuff too?" Greg asked.

I nodded. "Oh yeah. Asari corporations excel here, a literal jungle of glass and steel where paperwork is the weapon of the day. Fortunately for us, we're just here for a pick up. Not that we could ever afford to do much more than browse here, and in some places, we couldn't even afford that. Docking took damn near the last of the credits Wrex gave us and we're only paid up for the day."

The elevator stopped, doors opening showing the interior of space age materials the asair favored for walls. Vid screens played ads for everything from makeup, to drugs on just about every available surface visible, other than the windows. I turned to a set of stairs to our right that lead upward, and the legend that proclaimed the name of the establishment behind the circular doorway they ended at.

Through the windows, you could see the trade floor. The whole thing was dedicated to vid screens showing stock prices from all over the galaxy. From where we were, you could see a lot of asari, several volus, a hanar, and two elcor doing the stock thing. That meaning, lots of shouting, pointing, mad typing on various omni tools and such as goods were bought, sold, or traded at blinding rates for fractions of a credit per unit.

While their first look at the krogan sort of surprised them, they quickly got used to seeing them since we were surrounded by nothing but krogan on Tuchanka. Earlier, they gawked at the asari, but again, we were surrounded by them so they quickly got used to it. Here, through the window overlooking the trade floor, we got our first look at a bunch of different races mingling.

Blue skinned asari towered over the smaller figures in environmental suits that were the volus. I heard Steve mutter something about suit wearing vole-men, which wasn't entirely off, but something I hoped he didn't say around one of them. Kind of racist, from their point of view, and the volus were fairly prideful.

Towering above them, were a few elcor. Huge monstrous beings with massive forearms, walking sort of like a gorilla would, on all fours giving them a lumbering giant, yet not at all odd to those below.

when I turned from the window, the gang was practically pressed against it, taking it all in making my smile widened when I heard Paige, "Wow…"

"First time to Illium?" We turned behind us to find a tall asari smiling at us. "I do love seeing peoples expressions when they first come here. A sight to see, is it not?"

"It is, and yes. Our first time here," I replied for the group.

"Wonderful. Well, I'll not keep you from exploring, and let me be the first to welcome you to our city. I hope you enjoy your time here."

"Thank you."

The others nodded as the smiling asari walked away. As I looked back at the guys, I couldn't help but think we weren't so much tourists as complete newbies. It was never more apparent than now. Hopefully they bounced back after a bit, and that thought gave me an idea.

"Alright guys, so I have to go do this thing with T'soni. Why don't you guys get a drink while you wait?"

"Man, that is what I'm talking about. Wheres the bar?" Steve asked with a smile.

I nodded to the stairs, handing over a credit chit. "Up there. Get a table and stay out of trouble. Don't eat or drink anything meant for dextrose and whatever you do, do not fuck with the bartender of Eternity."

Greg looked at me puzzled. "Why?"

"She'll beat you to death with your own spine."

Steves laughter lasted only a few moments before he realized, I was serious. "No shit?"

I nodded. "Yeah. While murder is illegal on Illium, you can buy exceptions if you own a business and you can justify 'defending' your establishment."

I smiled as Steve, Paige, and Greg walked up the steps, muttering about insane bureaucrats and spine beatings. Surprisingly, Dinah didn't. I looked at her, asking my question by raising my eyebrow.

She shrugged. "It's not like they're going to let me have one. Besides, you shouldn't meet with this 'T'soni' alone."

My smile melted into a frown. "See something?"

Dinah shook her head, a look on concentration on her face. "Nothing I can put into words. The numbers are shifting too much, but I know that if you go alone, all the percentages are in the teens for you walking back out the same way you walked in."

I blinked. "A trap?"

"No, but something. It's like, looking at a picture, under the surface of murky water. Because you're there, I can kind of get a feel of what is going to happen, but at the same time, the void is pretty strong around here so I'm drawing a blank."

"Alright, but if something does happen, I want you to run back here." At her frown, I shook my head. "This is not a debate. I know you can take care of yourself, Dinah, but you are not a fighter. It's this, or you stay here."

"Fine," Dinah muttered mulishly, "but I am not the kid you rescued in the docks anymore."

"Fair enough," I returned as I started to lead us through the hallway. Voices recounting the wonders of various products greeted us or followed us as we made our way to the trade floor. "But you _are_ inexperienced."

"That didn't stop you from running with Shepard."

I reluctantly nodded to her point but didn't comment on it. She had me there. The fact was, I didn't want her involved in this stuff. I guess I still _did_ think of her as the kid we rescued back then. Not very fair of me either, considering the point she just made.

"Okay, but today, do as I've asked. We'll see what we can do for your training later. Alright?"

Dinah nodded acceptingly as we arrived below. Once the door opened, I looked up to one of the windows two floors above us, where T'soni's office was.

 _Well, I guess there's nothing for it, but to get this over with._


	4. Arrival 4

**Arrival Story Arc: 1.4**

Together, Dinah and I walked up the stairs that led to T'soni's office. At the top, we found an asari receptionist smiling at us. Her eyes looked us both over, thoroughly taking note of our attire. She wasn't impressed. It did remind me that our sense of fashion was even more out of check with the mainstream than ever before. In short, we stood out like a sore thumb. We were going to need to change that soon, otherwise it was going to be ridiculously easy to track us when we were in port.

For all the asari were a completely different species to humanity, they were about as close as it got for passing for human. The basic stuff like, two arms, two legs aside, they were also proportionally the same in body style. Bust size notwithstanding, since not one of Sebastian's memories that I remembered ever showed me one lacking in that department, nor had one we'd seen since we got here. The real differences came in skin color. Like Uber noted earlier, different shades of blue, though the one in front of us leaned heavily to purple, kind of. Then there were the scalp crests, and they didn't have hair, but other than that, yeah, pretty close. I stamped down on how her superior look made me feel, returning her smile as we approached the desk she was sitting behind. "Can I… help you?"

The question of whether she meant help us here, or help us leave, really wasn't a question. This kind of brought up the another issue that came up when dealing with asari. Middle age for them was something like five hundred years old. As such, they tended to view themselves with a certain arrogance that, while not understandable due to their experience, most did not appreciate. Then again, no one liked being talked to as if they were five. Still, civility in the face of hostility was something I could do so I nodded, burying the resentment. "We are expected."

"Of course, and you are?"

"T'soni's two o'clock."

A slight darkening of her eyes greeted my answer, as the blue skinned woman turned to her terminal. I guess I didn't bury it deep enough, but at this point, I really didn't care. A very careful neutral expression, as she accessed the appointment charts. "I see. You are the 'couriers'?"

"Yeah."

"Very well. I will make Ms. T'soni aware of your presence."

Just like that, regulated to furniture. I nodded anyway, leading Dinah off to the side, ever under the watchful gaze of the receptionist. As we settled against the wall, I noticed Dinah attempting to glance covertly at our minder, and being pretty bad at it.

"Whats wrong?" I whispered to her, only to get a frown and a shake of her head. Instead of pushing her, I sent some of my ants scurrying from my boot, across the floor and onto the women's shoe. I arranged for two others to place themselves on her dress over her hip, and the back of her shoulder. While by themselves they weren't harmful, they would allow me to know if she tried something. The one thing about being in a place like Nos Astra, and later I was sure, on a space station, was going to be how little I was going to get away with deploying bugs. I mulled over the problem as we waited, not that we had to wait long. Still, always seems that way when you'd rather be anywhere else. I pushed away from the wall when the receptionist rose from from her terminal, nodding to the opening door. "She will see you now."

It was a nice office. Big desk, a single terminal in the middle, two chairs sitting in front of it. The kind of art you would expect in an office, a few plants, lamp, that kind of thing. What really stood out, were the six books she had on her right. While books were not that big a deal to us, they were a rare fixture to find in an age of data pads and electronic data compiling. Took up too much physical space, or something I guess.

I only took a few steps inside when I turned back. Dinah knelt down to tie her shoe. When she looked up seeing me watching, she waved me on. The receptionist ended up following me inside, so I didn't worry about it. Sitting behind the desk, was the person I came here to see. Liara T'soni.

And of course, she was beautiful. Full lips, strong presence, eyes shining intelligently as she looked me over. Unlike the receptionist, T'soni didn't have that superior air about her. Her gaze was assessing, curious, thoughtful, and very cautious. As I approached, her eyes flicked from my arm, sidearm, knife, and the scar across my face before settling on my eyes.

It wasn't hard to get a sense of what the receptionist thought of me. Tall, thin, while muscular, I wasn't brute class by any stretch. Long brown hair falling behind me like a banner. While these were the best clothes I had, they were still over a year old, not to mention so outdated as to be funny, even by human standards. Then there was the bug theme arm and omni bracer, matched by my scarab earrings. The only thing on my person that said I was anything but a complete throwback, was my visor and sidearm. Her reaction was sort of what I expected.

T'soni, not so much. She noted my attire, but it didn't mean anything to her assessment. What she thought, she kept well hidden behind a polite, but curious mask. Yet I could tell by the slight shift in her body posture, that she had my number. She saw enough in me to know I could be a threat, just like I knew enough from her to know she was.

"Thank you, Nyxeris."

And of course, to top it all off, she had a nice voice. It was funny in a way, an entire race that exemplified feminality, or basically everything I wasn't, and one of them was important to Sebastian. Figures, but at least I had my hair going for me.

I clamped down on my snort over my inner musings. I've been hanging out with Steve too much.

The receptionist, now identified as Nyxeris, moved behind me, leaning against the wall. Just how casual it was made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. The bugs I placed on her felt the subtle signs of her power around her, being made ready but not obvious, similar to how Sebastian used to do it. It didn't help my feelings of unease. If anything it sent alarm bells ringing through me.

T'soni didn't indicate it was anything exceptional for the placement, which told me Nyxeris doubled as a bodyguard. Not very reassuring. Still, the subtle power play wasn't something I was unused to as I kept my eyes on the woman behind the desk.

"You made quite the impression on Tuchanka."

I smiled slightly. "Missunderstood, the krogan. Shame too, they're fairly expressive when they have a mind to be."

The quirk of her lips would have been missed had I not been watching for it. "Indeed. Though I think most people find how they... _express_ themselves to be rather unpalatable."

"I suppose. I found Tuchanka to be a friendly place."

The slight gleam in her eye told me she found my remark amusing. Throughout the short exchange, Nyxeris continued to stare holes into the back of my head.

"I'm sure. Shall we get to business then?"

I was halfway through my nod, when things went to hell.

Dinah chose that moment to finally walk in, swinging her foldable baton like a club directly into Nyxeris' stomach. The blow was hard enough to drive the air out of her, but not enough to stop her from using her biotics. Dinah sailed across the room and slammed into the wall hard enough that she didn't move afterwards.

Wasps exploded from my hair and clothes, flying forward even as I moved. Omni shield manifesting on my right arm, knife in my left. Pistol fire from T'soni impacted my shield as I slammed my knife into Nyxeris's chest, ending the threat to my rear even as my wasps attacked T'soni's face. Nyxeris didn't even have time to catch her breath before my blade hit home.

With a scream of rage, T'soni erupted in her power, instantly killing every bug around her. It also sent her desk flying towards me. I jumped straight upward, letting it pass underneath me, slamming into the wall, easily killing her dying receptionist as my feet landed on the desk. Not wasting any time, I dived to the left where Dinah was thrown, barely dodging the lamp T'soni tried to skewer me with. Coming out of my roll, I held the shield in front of me, protecting both of us as I knelt in front of Dinah.

"Damn it, Liara. _Tango Nix!_ " I barked as I felt the dark energy wave slam into my shield, damn near toppling me.

The sudden onslaught stopped. Through my shield I could see my assailant's face had paled, or whatever the asari equivalent was for looking shocked out her skin. Her words, barely a whisper, broke the sudden silence. "Where did you hear that from?"

"Sebastian," I answered as the few surviving bugs I had that could fly did so around us. My crawlers, not that I had many or that she couldn't kill them just as quickly as the last batch, moved into vantage points as I stared the woman down. "He told me a lot of stuff about back then."

"Impossible, Shepard never mentioned anyone matching your description when he was alive."

"Sebastian wasn't the type to talk about his own personal stuff with just anyone." I countered. "Just because he let you into his head, doesn't mean you _know_ him, T'soni."

If anything, she looked even more shocked. I wanted to hit myself for letting my feelings over that spill over but there was nothing to be done about it now. I breathed heavily, keeping the shield up as I tried to think of a way I could get out of this without killing her.

Assuming even that was possible.

T'soni mastered her shock quickly, but in doing so, her eyes finally noticed my bugs. "Goddess, what are you?"

"Pretty fucked, by the look of this." I answered as I nudged Dinah. "You alright, Vates?"

All I got in return was a groan, but she was moving, which was a hell of a lot better than I figured considering the impact.

"Who are you?" T'soni demanded, pistol aiming right at me, leaving me with very little in the way of options if I wanted to keep protecting Dinah.

"Tough question, can we come back to it later?" I stalled. While having a good idea of what she was capable of through fighting beside Sebastian, this was the first time I had to face a biotic who meant me harm. Had to say, I wasn't a fan. Though, a lot of that could have been that I wasn't exactly prepared for it either.

"No, you are going to answer me. _Who are you?_ "

I nudged Dinah again, getting another groan. "Don't suppose you would accept that I'm just a happy go lucky tourist out to see a bit of the galaxy, would you?"

"No," T'soni hissed.

"Didn't think so."

The silence that settled between us was loaded. I could use the bugs on the gang, get their attention, but then everyone would see three people rushing through the trade floor to come up here. While that would solve one problem, I doubted it was going to fix more than it broke.

T'soni broke the silence first, changing tactics. "Why did your companion attack Nyxeris?"

"No idea, but I'm sure she had her reasons."

"Not good enough. Who do you work for? Do you work for the Shadow Broker? Were you paid to kill me?"

Behind me, Dinah answered weakly. "No… she did."

T'soni narrowed her eyes at me, since I was shielding Dinah and she couldn't see her well. Thinking quickly, I addressed the downed cape behind me. "Need a bit more, Vates. Preferably _before_ T'soni kills us."

"D-don't know who that broker guy is," I felt Dinah moving a bit more, trying to sit up against the wall. I adjusted my shield to keep her covered as she continued. "but he calls her, The Observer. Couldn't _see_ it, but I _heard_ that name. N-numbers d-didn't make sense until I took The Observer out of the equation. When I-I did, she wasn't there. So much b-better…"

"If we get out of this, Vates, we're going to have a talk about you taking the initiative." I muttered, as I started putting the pieces together.

I waited silently keeping my hand on Vates to steady her behind me. In front of me, T'soni was clearly thinking to herself, muttering quietly as she did so. For some reason, it didn't surprise me. "I can't believe… but… Nyxeris always did seem a bit too… _efficient_. No, but it makes so much sense. _That's_ how he always knew I was closing in!"

I stayed quiet as she reached the obvious conclusion, until her eyes focused on me again. "What did she mean by, 'the numbers were better'?" T'soni demanded, still flared in her powers and pointing her pistol at me. "Explain, now!"

Things started clicking in my mind, half formed thoughts, unanswered feelings over this meeting helped along by T'soni's muttering and the memories it triggered. Resolving enough that things started making sense. "Not here."

"You are not leaving here without answering me," T'soni threatened.

"Yeah, we are, because if you want the information I have, we're not doing it in a place that's probably monitored. I doubt I could convince you to come to my ship, so we need neutral ground, where privacy is guaranteed."

"This is Illium, very few places meet that requirement." T'soni argued.

"Eternity." When she didn't argue, I pressed my case. "Look, what I know, you don't want _other_ people knowing. We need neutral ground, Eternity's almost guaranteed to have it."

"What makes you say that?"

I actually snorted. "Please, no matter how good a spy network is, there is always a place to hide something. Bar's usually have the most need for it. Rich types making fools of themselves or meeting people they don't want others to see them meeting. Even a place like Illium needs a place where you can hide something, probably even more so considering how this _is_ , Illium. No matter the legality of the place, everyone has something to hide. Otherwise, you'd be out of a job."

"Very well. But if you try anything, I will kill you," T'soni threatened as she slowly lowered her pistol.

"Fair enough," I agreed as I dropped my shield to help Dinah to her feet.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

I walked through the door to Eternity, Dinah leaning against me, hand massaging her head. My eyes scanned the light crowd looking for my people even as I felt T'soni nudge me forward. The bar itself was classier than what I was used to. Private booths to the left, tables and chairs scattered around. Not many people in today, though it was still early I suppose. Even the music was not quite what you would have thought a bar would play. In fairness though, this was my first time in an alien watering hole.

Greg I found easily, sitting at one of the tables with a quarian in a non descript suit. Steve was sitting with Paige at the bar, which worked for me since we needed to get a private room anyways. Seeing Dinah's condition, he immediately started my way, much to T'soni's displeasure.

I ignored her, addressing Steve once he was next to me. "Get her to the ship."

His eyes looked over my shoulder, as I helped Dinah into his arms. "Now, Uber."

Using his cape name brought his eyes to mine, a moments stare and a nod. As he led Dinah away I turned to T'soni. "Your show, I'll be right here while you make the arrangements."

I sat down, slow and easy in Steve's vacated chair to make my point. The biotic nodded as she walked over a few feet to talk to the bartender, keeping me in her sights the whole time.

"What happened?" Paige whispered.

I lowered my voice to match. "Dinah decided to change the script. I need to talk to T'soni about a few things. Keep an eye out here with Leet, alright?"

"Yeah, you got it. Um, how bad is this?"

T'soni looked at me, indicating with her head I was to join her. I answered as I got out of the chair, "Could be better."

T'soni led me to a hallway behind the bar, at the end of which the bartender stood next to an open door. I walked in first finding it a simple room, no windows and only two chairs. I took one of them. I only just settled into it when the bartenders gravely voice broke the strained silence.

"Clean up after yourselves, whether that's blood or other bodily fluids."

"I told you, it isn't like that!" T'soni snarled back.

I blinked rapidly as I realized what the older asari meant, despite the circumstance, I actually blushed.

"Uh-huh, sure. I was young once too, you know. Been a couple of centuries, but I still remember how things work and I'm pretty sure the galaxy hasn't changed that much. I just don't want to walk back in here and have to clean it up." The door shut, locking, before T'soni or I could retort.

"Goddess," T'soni muttered as she wiped her face.

I chuckled as I realized she was about as embarrassed as I was. It reminded me that despite the fact T'soni was around a hundred and ten, comparatively speaking, she wasn't really that much older than me according to Sebastian's thoughts on Asari maturity. Then again, he wasn't really an expert so, grain of salt and all that.

My amusement brought T'soni's focus on me again, and our situation. I shrugged my shoulder as I answered the silent question her eyes asked. "It's not a bad cover story, if you think about it. I'd be surprised if that isn't what these rooms are for, private liaisons."

T'soni snorted, actually snorted at my comment before taking the seat across from me. The fact the gun was still in her hand didn't go unnoticed, but I didn't comment on it either as she addressed me directly, "Explain."

"Some I can't, not even here, not yet." I said, noticing her eyes narrow in frustration with my evasions. "But, the Nyxeris thing, that I can. Vates believes she worked for the Shadow Broker. You don't know Vates, but I do, very well. If she says something like that, she's usually right."

"Something I can verify myself when I go through her files." T'soni pointed out. "That does not explain why Wrex sent you to me, or why you eliminated her before we could make her talk."

"She attacked Vates," I answered plainly.

"Your companion attacked her first."

"Yeah, but that doesn't really mean much to me. I've killed every single person who ever put a hand on her. Old habits, I guess," I returned blandly. "The fact is, Vates felt that was what needed to happen and she knew better than anyone what my gut reaction would have been. Personally, I'd rather things didn't go down the way they did either, but they did, and now we're here. Adapt, improvise, move forward."

"Indeed," T'soni muttered as she narrowed her eyes at me. "Why did Wrex send you to me? This is about more than an old friend calling in a favor for some documentation."

"True, though its all sort of mixed up together. At the heart of things, I'm going to steal Sebastian from Cerberus, and you are going to help me do it."

Shocked, didn't even begin to cover the look on T'soni's face at my statement. "How do you know about that?"

"That Cerberus has him and is reviving him, or that you gave them his body?"

Her fist tightened around her pistol, but thank fully it stayed resting on her thigh as she silently stared at me. Fear, anguish, uncertainty, confusion, anger, a whole gambit of emotional turmoil ran across her face as I continued.

"Yes, I know. I also know that your war with the Shadow Broker started over Sebastian's remains. Not specifics mind you, but I remember enough. I went to Wrex first because I needed an 'in' with the old crowd, and because the old krogan was likely to be the easiest to convince."

"Somehow I can't see anyone 'convincing' Wrex of anything."

"And yet, Wrex still vouched for me. That alone should tell you something, aside from the fact that Wrex wants Sebastian free as much as I do. He sent me here because my team needs identification papers that can get us on the Citadel and access to Alliance back channels. Once you hand those over, we'll continue to the next part, but all of this is to get Sebastian away from Cerberus before they manipulate him into something he won't be able to live with." _Like last time,_ I thought.

In the ensuing silence I watched the asair across from me. Her mind turning over what I'd said so far, and likely filling in the blanks of what I didn't with her own observations. "Why should I help you?"

"You are _going_ to help me for two reasons," I said, maintaining my calm air, not that I was feeling calm, but I was used to acting the badass when I needed too. The fact was, I didn't like having to spill all this so blandly, but T'soni wasn't the type that was easily fooled and getting her on board was too important now that the issue was forced. Having her on the other side would only turn this clusterfuck into a complete FUBAR.

"The first reason is that you don't want Sebastian manipulated by Cerberus any more than I do. You were there when he discovered their experiments. Controlling Thresher Maws and experimenting on the survivors. How they took those poor colonists that were turned into Thorian Creepers and studied them, not to mention the Rachni they tried to harness. You were with him when they assassinated an Alliance Admiral to cover some of that up, and yet you still gave them his body."

"It was the only way!" T'soni loudly defended her actions. "If you know all of that, then you know the Reapers are coming! We _need_ Shepard."

I grimaced, hating how everyone put everything on Sebastian, as if there was no way to win other than relying on him to save them when they should be trying to save themselves. I nodded, my own voice quiet compared to T'soni's shout. "While I agree with you the fact remains that instead of picking up where he left off, you and everyone else who _knew_ the truth, are off settling old grudges or wiling away the time before they get here-"

"By the Goddess, who do you think you are?" T'soni snared. "Do you realize what could be done to help the war effort if we had control over the Shadow Broker's intelligence resources? After Shepard died, and no Reapers showed, the truth was covered up. The council denied everything because without Shepard, there was no proof. Someone had to _do_ something, and that is what I am doing. Besides that, the Shadow Broker is in league with the Reapers. He has to be stopped!"

"True," I agreed, not showing any irritation at being cut off. "But that's not why you're hunting him, and you know it."

T'soni flinched back as if I slapped her. I didn't give her any moment to recover as I pressed my verbal attack. "Yeah, without Sebastian, everything fell apart. You gave him to Cerberus hoping they would pull off a miracle and bring him back. Congratulations, they succeeded, and I intend to make sure this ends up like every other project of theirs that Sebastian involved himself in."

"And how, exactly, is that?"

"Lots of dead bodies and ruined plans," I answered with a feral smirk on my face. "It's going to be easier with you on board. Probably why Vates pushed the issue the way she did since I never intended to go this route. I wanted to do this quietly, but loud works too."

I waited, letting T'soni calm down. "You said two reasons, but you have only given me one."

"The Shadow Broker. The greatest broker of information and secrets the galaxy has ever known. The entity that knows all, and what he doesn't know, he can find out. You want him, I know how to find him, which I will happily tell you once Sebastian is free. Hell, I'll even go with you to fucking kill his ass, but not until Sebastian is free from Cerberus."

That got her attention. "How?"

I slowly shook my head. "Sebastian first, but to give you an idea that I am on the level, I know something about the ship he's hiding in. It is very… unique and very suited for a specific environment. I imagine it wouldn't take you long to find him once you know what I do. I hear you are a _very_ good information broker yourself. When you do, I'll go with you, help you do what you need to do to put this behind you, but not until Sebastian is safe."

"What do you need?" T'soni asked determinedly.

"What Wrex sent me here for, though if you're not hurting for credits, I have one bit of tech for sale. I was going to sell it to the Alliance, but now I'm thinking you would know where and how best to move it. Despite how all this came about, Sebastian trusted you, so I'm trying, and this will help a lot of people out for when the Reapers show. That this would give me the credits I need to repair my ship as well as be quite profitable for the information I'm hoping you can get me, is a bonus."

"What kind of tech and information?"

"The tech is easy, blue prints for a quantum entanglement communicator."

"Impossible, that is only a theoretical concept," T'soni scoffed.

"It's proven tech, we've been using it for years." Her reaction, mocking morphing into stunned disbelief, made me chuckle as I let her get her bearings.

"I will need to see the design, but if what you say is correct, then you are understating it's value but I do have access to resources that should compensate you somewhat. What kind of information did you need?"

I knew I understating things, but I didn't want the 'value' out of it, just wanted to get it out there for everyone to have access to and to get the funds we needed to kick this thing off. Our arrival already complicated a situation that was starting to get out of hand. I wasn't kidding T'soni, or myself, when I said 'quiet' was out. I think we passed that stage the second we arrived. Besides, it was like Steve was fond of saying, 'Go big, or go home'.

I had no intention of ever going 'home'.

"Somehow," I explained as I cast off my introspection. "Cerberus has managed to keep the Lazarus Project hidden from everyone for just over two years. Best way to do something like that, is to set up somewhere no one thinks to look. Thing about that is, that means away from standard supply lines, so you have to run your own. Everything leaves a trail, even Cerberus. The one problem I have, is that I only know roughly where I need to be to find them. You can narrow it down and this whole thing will go faster.

"Specifically, I need to know where a ship carrying supplies for a shipyard can be found so I can hijack it, and I need to know where the medical supplies they are using to revive Sebastian are going. Get me that, and I'll get Sebastian, then we'll go kill the Shadow Broker."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

We entered the bar some time later, details resolved and thankfully, hostilities no longer an issue. Paige had joined Greg and the quarian and I found both looking at me. I smiled slightly to let them know things were alright.

Greg was first up, helping the quarian, before the three of them made their way to T'soni and I. Just looking at Greg's face I knew something was up. What that was, I didn't have to wait long as Greg got right to it.

"So, things are good then? Cuz, I need nine hundred thousand dollars."

I blinked, stunned. It took me a moment to gather enough of my senses at that shocking bit of news to even formulate my response. "What the hell were you drinking that cost damn near a million credits!?"

"What?" Greg responded seemingly just as confused as I was. "Well, it was green, but that isn't what I need the money for. It's for Cessi'Rallo nar Xaafis."

"Oh, very good, you got it right that time," Cessi'Rallo congratulated Greg, until she practically shrunk into herself when every one of us turned to stare at her.

I rubbed my eyes through my visor trying to stave off the building headache. I was never leaving them to their own devices again. They couldn't even sit in a bar and drink without causing problems. I purposely didn't think of the havoc they were going to cause once we finally did get to the Citadel. "Alright. Why does Cessi'Rallo need nine hundred thousand credits, Leet."

"Well, she kind of owes money to people."

"By 'people' you mean…"

"Yeah, the kind of people you really don't want to owe money too."

"On Illium, that actually covers the majority of the business class," T'soni supplied, obviously enjoying my plight.

I sighed to cover my irritation. "Of course it does. Not that I'm against the idea, Leet, but it's _a million credits_! It's not like you're asking for bus fare, I could buy a house on Bekenstein and have money left over! You have to give me more than, 'because she needs it paid'. I know I wasn't talking with T'soni long enough for her to be carrying your kid, even if you somehow tinkered up a way to do it."

Paige burst into laughter that had her clamping her hands over her mouth and walking away. Even T'soni snorted, though I doubt she got the full implications of what I meant. Leet did, judging by the blush on his face, which was a rare point for me. I waited patiently for him to explain, thinking it had better be a good reason.

"Well, see, I was thinking we needed another engineer anyways, right? You know, to help me out and shit, but, well, the thing is, she got into some trouble with the stock market here-"

"I did really well, at first," Cessi'Rallo interrupted. "I created programs that predicted stock shifts and I was using them to stay ahead of fluctuations, but there were unpredictable variations in a few key markets and I ended up losing everything."

I closed my eyes, already knowing the gamblers song when I heard it. There was a reason we kept Steve away from Las Vegas, and it wasn't because we were afraid of the villains there. "So you borrowed money to win it back."

"Uh, yeah, but I lost that too."

"Of course you did."

"Well, the programs worked before! So, I sort of took out another loan, but because I already had one with an establish agency here, I… sort of had to get an unofficial one."

"Naturally," I dryly said. "Then promptly lost that as well, I take it."

"Well, took a while to lose it _all_ …"

I looked to Greg, his face hopeful as he looked back at me. "If we can't help her she's going to end up having to sell herself into slavery…"

"Indentured servitude," Cessi'Rallo corrected.

Greg blinked at being interrupted, but continued on with the correction. "…indentured servitude to pay it back. I mean, how fucked up is that?"

I sighed again looking beside me to where T'soni was watching, obvious amusement on her face as she smirked at me, knowing I was going to have to ask. "I… might also have something else I could throw in, if you could, you know, make this go away."

"I think we can come to an arrangement, though I'd like to see this 'proven' tech before I authorize expenditures of these sizes."

I reluctantly nodded, turning to narrow my eyes at Greg. "I don't _ever_ want to hear about me owing you a damn thing until you find a way to pay me back two million credits. Until you do, I _own_ you."

Instead of being contrite, Greg nodded, smiling. "You won't regret it, Cessi'Rallo has some mad tech skills."

I shook my head, waving the group to follow me. "She's going to need them working with your dumb ass. Come on, let's get this over with. God only knows what you assholes will get me into once we get to the Citadel."


	5. Arrival 5

**Arrival Story Arc: 1.5**

I watched as T'soni walked away, a couple of million credits lighter, but very pleased with her purchases. The hacking algorithms alone were worth their weight in credits to someone in her profession, but having something like the QEC to barter off? Well, that wasn't going to hurt her in certain circles, even if she had to wait a few weeks to do it. Once we had Sebastian, it didn't matter, but until we made our move, we needed the Illusive Man to think it was business as usual.

Despite the fact there was plenty of room to go around me, someone ran into my shoulder, bringing me out of my thoughts and making me lose my balance.

"You should be careful where you're standing, girl."

I slowly righted myself, turning to the man who jostled me. He was dressed in what looked like brand new armor, a N7 logo proudly displayed on his chest. While the armor looked the part, his face didn't. Blond hair and goatee adorned his face, confidence and arrogance in his stance. It was his eyes that I found interesting though. Obviously altered somehow, with streaks of blue in the mostly green irises. More than that, his eyes gave away the one thing his posture didn't. Like a peacock, he was puffing himself up, making himself look more important than he really was. It was completely at odds with his what his armor represented.

I had no clue who this guy was, but if he managed to get through the week without getting shot, I'd forgive Greg's debt.

"My mistake," I replied, stepping aside, giving him a wide berth.

The blond sneered at me, striding away. As I shook my head, I amended my thought. If he got through the week _alive_ , I'd forgive Greg's debt.

I shook my head, I'd let someone else deal with him. Guy like that, someone was bound to. Instead, I turned around and headed back into the ship, closing the ramp behind me. With our reason for being on Illium done, we were finally bound for the Citadel.

My steps carried me through the cargo bay/workroom and into the upper sections where our living sections were, and my ultimate destination, Med bay. I entered immediately, not seeing any changes to Dinah's monitors. She was sleeping peacefully, and without pain according to the readout on Mr. Doctor.

I sighed, taking a seat next to her, leaning back in my chair and closing my eyes. I shouldn't have taken her with me. I knew she wasn't experienced in this kind of thing, but…

"Thought I'd find you here."

I kept my eyes closed as I answered. Did I nod off? Shouldn't we be getting under way or did we have another problem? "Something going on, Steve?"

"No. Got Atlas behind the wheel, or whatever. I'll save my power for when we get close to the relay, just in case. Not really useful right now as we're still in-system, and it'll burn out during the transit time."

Well, I guess that answered my question of if I nodded off or not. "Sounds good."

I heard the sound of a chair moving, and being sat next to me. Even with my eyes closed I knew he was staring at me. It went on for some time before he spoke again.

"We need to talk."

"Ominous. This have anything to do with Greg's friend?"

"No, well sort of. Actually, not really. It's got more to do with you."

I opened my eyes, Steve sat with his arms folded, a concerned look on his face as he looked at me. "Me?"

"Yeah. Specifically, this thing you've been doing."

I raised my eyebrow silently. I stayed quiet, as he sat figuring out how he wanted to say what he had on his mind. Something he only did when he was really uncomfortable, which did nothing for how I felt about this conversation so far.

"Yeah, exactly, _that_. Man, I get that this shit is important, but do you even realize what you're doing?"

"Anytime now, Steve."

"Fuck it," the thinker muttered, sitting up straighter in his chair. "I hate it when you get like this. I thought we were past this shit. A year now, a fucking year now you've been better. You even talked to Annette and told her stuff! But we're right back where we were before."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I don't know what you are trying to say, Steve-"

" _Bull_ shit. You know exactly what the fuck I'm sayin'. You're doing the Matriarch thing even when you don't need to. Worse, you're doing it to the wrong people."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Man, this is fucking Fresno all over again!" Steve declared, all but throwing his hands up in his frustration.

"We are a long way from Fresno, Steve," I countered quietly, trying to remind him that Dinah was sleeping. "A long way and a long time. What we're doing here is nothing like our situation in Fresno."

"The hell it isn't!" Steve argued back, though a bit quieter than he was a moment ago. "You were like this then too, pissing people off, picking fights we didn't need. We were supposed to be there for a simple pick up. But when we met with those guys for the exchange, you went way over the top with shit. Back then it was you who got hurt, today it was Dinah."

I turned to the bed, and the young woman sleeping in it. "I didn't tell her to attack that woman, Steve. She did that all on her own."

"No doubt, but why she did it is just as important as the fact she did."

"She said it made the numbers better. I assumed she saw something up ahead that would have ruined—"

"You know what I think?" Steve interrupted me. "I think Dinah went schizoid on that asari chick because something happened to you in a possible future. I think she saw or heard enough to figure out that if she took one for the team, it would keep you from getting hurt like you did in Fresno."

I shook my head at his persistence. "She could have seen that this would get her a recipe for rainbows and cupcakes too, Steve. Fact is, we don't know. When she wakes up, we'll find out, but what happened was not something I wanted going in."

"Man, it wasn't your plan in Fresno either. You were lucky you didn't bleed out before we got you back to the ship. As it was, you were damn near two weeks in recovery because once the fight started, you wouldn't _stop_ ," Steve pressed.

"You're acting like I killed T'soni." I said as I turned back to him. "I put a stop to the fight as quickly as I could."

"That 'T'soni' thing, that's another deal. What are we here for?"

I frowned, not following his rapid change in topics. "You know what we're here for."

"Yeah, I do, do you?"

"Of course I do. We're here to help Sebastian."

"Man, I would love to know how putting a fistful of hornets into his friends face helps him at all."

When I didn't reply, he nodded. "Yeah, didn't think so. Okay, Wrex, I get. Guy's a krogan and what little I got while we were waiting to talk to him, yeah, I'd buy acing those guys. But Liara? Man you walked in there with a chip on your shoulder. These are Shepard's friends. Fuck man, if this was you we were rescuing, you damn fucking better believe, if someone out of the blue walked in pulling this jedi mind fuck, they'd leave in a bag."

"So what, you want me to walk up to these people and say, 'Hi. I'm Taylor. I control bugs with my mind and I used to be Sebastian's girlfriend before he died. I've traveled across dimensions and time to save him. Thing is, he has no idea who I am, since I didn't come into his life until after he was killed, the second time, not the last time, when the galaxy got mostly wiped out by the Reapers. Wanna help?"

My sarcasm didn't even faze him as he replied. "Shit, you know I'm not sayin' that, but there has to be a better way to do this. But one of those things you said, that's a point. Shepard, he doesn't know us. Not anymore, yet, what the fuck ever."

"Don't you think _I_ know that, Steve?" I hissed.

The thinker nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I think you do, and I think that's part of the problem. I miss him too, Taylor. We all do, and I get this is hella personal for you, it's personal for all of us. All of us can't wait to get him back, yet not one of us is looking forward to him not remembering shit about us. But this, going all hardcore badass all the fucking time, it isn't the answer. I get you guys shared that mind connection but, Taylor... you're not Shepard."

"I know that, Steve," I quietly replied, looking away from the cape.

"Man, then _act_ like it." Steve got up, moved his chair next to mine, before sitting again. "My point is this: you're doing what you do when you feel trapped, or when your back's against the wall. You take shit to a ridiculous level. That works for you because you're smart, you always find a way to win, but we're not here to win. We're here to help a friend. Being here, it's messing with you, and you don't even see it. Worse, you're trying to do it alone and you're pushing people away. You're pushing away Shepard's friends, and these are the people he trusted enough to fight with him. Worse, you're pushing us away. Here is the thing you are forgetting, Taylor, even Shepard couldn't do it alone. Even Shepard needed a team."

I sighed. "I get that, Steve, and I'm not saying you don't have a point, but…"

"We've been friends a while now, right?" Steve asked, interrupting me. I nodded letting him continue. "Right, and we've been through some shit. Some cool, some really messed up, so I'm just going to say it. If I thought for an instance you wouldn't shoot me in the balls, I'd have tried to make a play for you. That's how awesome you are."

I snorted at his attempt to make me feel better. The smirk on his face told me he was mostly kidding, but at the same time, he wasn't. "Don't get me wrong, you're motherfucking crazy, but awesome. Okay, so you got some issues and yeah, your issues have issues. Then those issues went and had kids, who grew up to have big ass issues of their own. I'm not even counting the little pet issues they collected and shit, but that doesn't stop you from being hella' awesome."

Feeling my cheeks heat up slightly in embarrassment as I rolled my eyes. "You can stop flattering me now, Steve. Your point before I _do_ decide to shoot you in the balls?"

Steve chuckled before his tone became more serious. "Just that you need to remember the girl he fell for. It wasn't the hard ass. Shepard didn't fall for Matriarch. Shepard fell in love with Taylor, and if you want your shot to see if you can get that back, that is who you need to be. I know this shit isn't easy for you. I get what coming here means to you, but you're losing yourself in the mission, and that is going to cost you everything if you're not careful.

"The change up here is, we're on the other side now. He's not in our world, we're in his. Man's got a past here, not to mention he's missing a couple of years off the guy we knew. If we're going to get our friend back, we need to roll with things. You knew that before we even started preparing for this a year ago. Maybe it works out between you guys, maybe it doesn't and he falls for someone else that he has a connection with, but we knew that going in too."

I turned away again, nodding before I asked quietly. "So what do you suggest, Steve?"

The thinker put his arm around me, words quiet as he answered. "You have to let people in sometime, Taylor. Live up to the promise you made when you first told me that this was what you wanted to do. That you would move on. We're here, and the thing is, Taylor, we're in the future! Circumstances aside, this should be the best ride of our lives. We're the only parahumans in the galaxy on a one of a kind ship, loaded with the craziest tinker shit we could find or build. We beat the odds, we not only got out of the game, but we actually managed to get _here._ Time to let the past go, and build that future we all wanted, as a team."

"Yeah, we got some serious villainy to do, but that is what we do, you know? That's our thing, but we shouldn't be doing that to each other and I don't see a reason we shouldn't have a good time doing it. Shepard trusted these people, as far as I'm concerned, that is the same as when you vouched for Tattletale, and you _know_ how I felt about working with the Undersiders."

I remained silent as Steve rose, walking to the door. He paused, just before he left Med bay, turning to me once again. "All that cape shit is behind us now, your words. Matriarch was the scariest bitch on Bet, no question, but we're not on Bet anymore. We've been to two completely new planets now, and you know what? We didn't get to explore much on either. We've seen two of Shepard's teammates, and you almost had to kill one of them. Not only that, but the only topics you've been interested in were mission ones. I won't speak for the others, but I want my friend back."

Steve turned away, leaving. I deflated into my chair once the door was closed, only one thought on my mind from that mostly one sided conversation.

"Well, that's me told off, isn't it?"

With a sigh, I pulled my knife, flipping it so I was holding the blade. My omni blade manifesting as I slowly, carefully, gouged another notch, thinking of what Steve said.

The subtle twitch of Dinah's lips, forming a very smug smirk, was completely missed in my introspection.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Data pad in hand, I scrolled down the list of supplies we needed. The list had grown in the last hour as I added more personal things. Steve made some seriously good points, I had been too focused on getting Sebastian back. As if just getting him away from Cerberus was the end-all/be-all, and things would go back to the way they were in Brockton Bay once it was done.

So stupid. I knew it wasn't as simple as that, but with us being so close… Well, can't do anything about it now, except acknowledge that I screwed up, and try and make amends. With that in mind, I walked into engineering to find the last two people I needed to talk to. Greg and our newest crew member, Cessi'Rallo, to see what they thought would be good additions. Whether that was creature comforts, food, or whatever. The least I could to to apologize was to make sure everyone was good on stuff. We had the credits now and we'd get more when we could finally unload our salvage. I was absolutely sure, we were going to need the space.

"Yes, dark energy can be used to envelope small areas to allow moderate mass manipulation, but the gravitational constant of the universe, just _is_. You can't _change_ it!"

I looked up seeing Greg looking confused and Cessi looking frustrated. Well, she looked frustrated to me, with one three fingered hand on her hip and pointing the other at Greg. A sure sign of it in a lot of species, and yet, Greg didn't seem to notice as he tried making his point again.

"Sure you can. How else is it suppose to work?"

"You can't _do_ that! It's impossible!"

"Well, I'm not saying we changed the _whole_ universe, at least, I don't think we did... Anyways, just, you know, a little piece of it."

"Um," I interrupted before Cessi decided to attack Greg. Not that I thought she would, but tinker bullshit didn't make sense, and quarians, as a species, they liked technology to make sense. "Troubles?"

Cessi let out a little squeal of surprise as she jumped behind Greg, making me roll my eyes. Greg just smiled as I walked up to him. "No, just trying to explain one of our upgrades to Cessi'Rallo. Tinker stuff, isn't easy to explain sometimes."

I snorted at his understatement, as I held up the pad in my hand. "It gets easier if you just call it bullshit and don't think about it at all. I was going over stuff we need and thought I'd get your guy's input. Not limited to ship stuff either, personal stuff too. The Citadel is the place to get just about anything, as long as it's legal."

"Nice," Greg said as he took the pad and started looking over what the others thought we needed. "I've been really curious about medi gel and some other things Shepard told me about, you know, back in the day. Are we going to have time to for me check some of that out?"

"Sure. I don't see a reason why not." I agreed before turning to Cessi. "Welcome aboard the _Exiled_ , Cessi'Rallo nar Xaafis."

"Oh, um, th-thank you, Captain."

"Taylor, please. We're, ah, not very formal around here," I corrected, a bit uncomfortable with the address, but probably not as uncomfortable as the girl across from me. At least, by her body posture. Had to give Sebastian credit on that, quarians did take a bit of knowledge to read just by body language alone. Those tinted helmets that were a trait of their species, didn't give you much to work with. "Have you been to the Citadel before?"

"Yes. It was my first stop four months ago when I, um, first set out. I thought there would still be plenty of work there, but no one wanted to hire a quarian for anything so I went to Illium. I heard there was work for a tech programer and that is my specialty."

I nodded, not bringing up how her specialty got her into trouble. Judging from what I was seeing, she seemed fairly glad to have found an out and less said the better. "I can see that. Why don't you join us? We're going to look around and get some supplies while we wait for repairs to get done. I'm sure you'll need a few things as well."

"Oh, no, you don't need…"

" _Hey Greg!"_

The tinker in question looked up from the data pad. "Yeah Steve?"

" _Man, the microwave's busted again. I thought you fixed this thing?"_

"I did. What did you do to it?"

" _I fucking turned it on and it shot sparks at me! How the hell am I supposed to heat this now?"_

Greg rolled his eyes, grabbed his tool box that was sitting next to him, and left. "Eat that nasty shit cold man. How the fuck you can stomach that ham and cheese garbage is beyond me."

" _Just get up here asshole."_

The door closed, leaving me alone with Cessi. I turned to her, smirking. "Like I told you, we're not very formal around here."

"Yes, I can see that." Cessi fidgeted a moment, I waited patiently for her to get her thoughts in order. "Greg is, well a bit strange, but I wanted to thank you for helping me. Not many people would do something like that. Especially for a quarian."

"Don't worry about it. We all make mistakes. Just so happens, you're on board a ship full of them,and I'm not just talking about the ship itself." I opened the door waving her to follow me. "Tell me about your tech skill set. Is it just programing or are are you more of a combat engineer?"

"No, I'm nowhere near Marine level. I got the usual weapons training when I left the Xaafis, but that's it. I've never even been in a fight before. I'm much more comfortable behind a console."

"I think you'll get along with Paige and Sharee. They're not much for fighting either, though they've been in a few. They do almost all of our support stuff. One of the things I was curious about, how much of your programming is VI based, or have you branched into AI research?"

"Well, AI research is strictly prohibited…"

I snorted, cutting her off. "You haven't met Atlas yet, have you?"

"Who?"

Suddenly the lights dimmed, shout and curses exploded throughout the ship, before they came back up to their regular strength. Atlas came over the comms before I could even ask for him.

"Matriarch, I believe your presence is needed on Level 1. Leet has caused power fluctuations as well as several systems failures."

"Damn it. Of course he did." I muttered to myself as I rushed upward to see it for myself. "How close are we to the Citadel?"

"We had just received a communique from them requesting our Identification when the surge disengaged the comms."

My rush turned into a run, getting to the scene as fast as I could. When I got there, the microwave was a total ruin, smoke billowing out it even as it sat disconnected on a table. The green glowing power cell behind it, dark.

 _Why did the microwave have a power cell?_

Paige was standing off to the side, fire extinguisher in hand, staring at it as if she was waiting for it to do something. Greg was arms deep into a blown power juncture we only just got repaired yesterday.

I could almost feel the targeting locks that were sure to be on us, as I shouted up to the cabin. "Hey, Steve! No sudden moves until we get comms back up."

"Alright, but be quick about it, we got ships looking at us, and I'm not too comfortable with how hungry they look!"

"Hey, I got it!" Gregs muffled voice stated just as another power coupler blew. I cursed as Paige swung round and sprayed it. "Paige, hand me that spanner?"

"Little busy putting out the fire you started!"

"For the love of puppies. Steve! Tell me the comms working now? Preferably before someone starts shooting at us. Again!"

"Um, a little help with the fire please?" Paige begged. It seemed to snap Cassi out of her shock as she activated her omni tool and started firing a stream of cryo into the junction.

Steve didn't answer me, so I turned to where Greg was still tinkering. "Hey, can they hear us or not?"

 _"Yes."_ A voice broke out from our speakers. It had a deep resonance to it, masculine, and if I had to put money on it, I'd swear it was turian. He didn't sound happy. _"I can."_

 _Yay, not a full minute here, and we already pissed someone off._ Everyone else quieted, letting me speak for us. "Sorry about that Citadel Tower. We're having some equipment issues here, because _someone_ ," I looked to where the bridge was, not that Steve could see me glaring at him, "needed the microwave to work. We are the ISS Exiled. Commander Allison Gunn speaking."

 _"Understandable. You are humans, correct?"_

"Yes."

 _"Very well. I will transfer you to Alliance Tower for verification and docking procedures. Do you require any assistance?"_

"No thank you, Citadel Tower. Just looking for a port to make some repairs, off load some salvage, and pick up some supplies."

 _"Very well. Welcome to the Citadel, Commander."_

"Thank you, Citadel Tower." I returned, a slight smile on my face now that I knew we wouldn't get shout out of the sky. "It's good to be home."


	6. Arrival 6

**Arrival Story Arc: 1.6**

I looked up from yet _another_ datapad, taking in the sight of the _Exiled_ , docked. Clamps kept the ship safely secured. While most of our repairs were not something that could be completed here due to the amount of tinkertech we used, the addition we needed could be. The procurement of which is what led me to sitting with my back to a crate, reading one data pad after another. Rules, regulations, permissions, procurement, verification, shipping times, manpower allocation, prices, etc.

Too bad we couldn't paperwork the Reapers to death. The Citadel had that down pat.

I sighed, going back to my work. This was one thing I missed about being a villain, no paperwork. While we kept records and such, we liked things simple. Doing things legally meant you had to deal with bureaucracy, and here, that meant dealing with what the asari and salarians decided was the 'proper' procedures. Said procedures covered everything from docking, to simply existing. Well, at least we were finally here, even if I'd been stuck here for hours taking care of all this crap.

Just the look on everyone's face when we'd arrived had been worth it. While I'd seen the Citadel before through Sebastian's eyes, I had to say there was something about seeing it for myself, actually being here, that brought a new, and much greater appreciation, for the _scale_ of the thing. In all fairness, I doubt the look on my face as Steve slowly brought us into port, was any different than theirs. Awestruck at the size of the station, seeing the five arms of the Citadel opened, as if welcoming us into her embrace. Seeing the multitude of spaceships all around us going about their day. It seemed to take forever before we got close enough to the Docking Ring for us to see any of the air cars, and even those came in all shapes and sizes.

It hit home to all of us, that we weren't in Kansas anymore. I don't think I'd seen the guys smile so much in a long time. While they'd appreciated Illium, it was an asari world. The Citadel was more of a melting pot of different races. Here, there was just no telling what you would see, more their speed I guess. Sebastian wasn't kidding when he said it was the tourist spot of billions. Unfortunately this brought me back to my earlier thoughts.

With all the coming and going, and being the seat of rule for most of the galaxy, all visitors had to do the usual, seemingly never-ending, paperwork including 'declarations'. I snorted to myself at my inner thoughts. About the only thing I was going to declare was that my ship was closed to outsiders. Checking that everything was in order on this pad, I added my signature, set it aside while picking up another to go through. Urz's head shifted slightly in my lap, reminding me he was there, and prompting me to scratch the scales along his jaw, to his immense pleasure.

The sound of boots walking to me brought my attention up to the man in charge of this torture disguised as docking. I narrowed my eyes at the datapad in his hand.

"I swear if that's for me, I'm feeding you to my varren."

The man, had to be in his late forties, was the only one of the work crew in the area who would go near me and Urz. He told me he'd been on staff for ten years now, and he'd thought he'd seen everything there was to see working here, until we docked. Where most of his associates were quite happy not to have to come around us, he didn't share that view, being curious what brought 'a bunch of kids' to the Citadel.

He laughed at my statement, though he eyed Urz warily. Not surprising, Urz was kind of big for a varren. I suppose the scars he carried from his pit fighting days didn't help the image. What did help was that Urz's head lolled to the side as my metal fingers scratched his jaw and the soft little grunts that verbalized how much he enjoyed the attention as he slobbered on me.

Once Morgan, as he'd introduced himself earlier, got close enough, he handed me the data pad despite my warnings. I sighed, taking it from him, adding it to the pile I had yet to go through. "Last one, promise."

"You said that four pads ago," I groused.

"Yeah, but then you told me your people would be working on the hook up once we get it installed. My boss is a turian, not that it bothers me any mind you, but he's a stickler for following every procedure in the book. My guys should be doing that, and since you don't want us too, you get to fill out paperwork until you go cross eyed, or give in and let us do our job."

I raised an eyebrow at his comment. He really didn't care, just found the situation amusing. "I don't think your boss knows how stubborn I can be about stuff. We're running several… sensitive systems. My people know it best, so it's better for us to do it."

"Fine by me, pays the same." Morgan joked as he turned to the _Exiled_ , his eyes falling on the line written just blow it's name. "Mercenaries?"

"We've been known to contract our services from time to time." I answered carefully. My tone didn't escape him as he turned to me.

"Just curious, looks like you've seen your share."

I knew he was referring to me more than the ship. Our damage aside, it didn't look anything like combat damage, where as I couldn't say that. I nodded, keeping my eyes on him even as I gave him a slight smile. "Dangerous place, the galaxy. I've been in a few spots, not fond of talking about them though."

"Right, of course." Once again, he glanced at Urz, then back to me. "Well, we should see your new equipment arrive tomorrow sometime, and we should have it secured to your ship no later than the day after that.

I nodded, I figured we'd need at least a day to do the installations between Steve, Cessi, and Greg. Atlas and me running repair drones could do the work of a team in half the time. Still, as I thought about it, that put us right about three to four days here getting ready. That worked out for a lot of reasons.

"Sounds good. Let me know if there are any delays, please."

"Of course, Ms. Gunn." Morgan agreed before leaving.

There were worse places to wait for repairs and information than the Citadel, I thought, going back to the never ending stack of datapads next to me.

As I scanned the text, the sub text, amendments, clauses, and even more amendments, I realized I couldn't think of any at the moment though.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

"Man, do you know how weird this is?" Greg asked, setting down the crate in his arms.

Behind him, Steve set his own burden down as he replied. "Which part, being on a five-armed space station the size of the Moon, that we're finally going to get rid of all this crap we've been dragging around, or that no one's shooting at us?

"Well, all three. But what I meant was, how weird it is to be like normal people, you know? Right now, we're just another ship getting some upgrades and offloading cargo. A guy could get used to that, you know?"

Steve nodded, looking around the spaceport. "Yeah, I hear ya man. Do you know when that guy was supposed to get here to pick up this crap?"

"You have no appreciation for history, Steve," Paige cheerfully scolded as she walked down the ramp, the last of the boxes in her arms. "These are priceless relics thought lost to the seas of time."

"It's crap we salvaged from the bottom of the fucking ocean on Earth Bet," Steve countered.

"Spoken like a true neanderthal. These are treasures believed lost with the ships that carried them, each a little bit of Earth's history and worth far more than the metals or stones in them."

"Spoken like a used car salesmen, right before he talks you into buying a lemon."

Setting down her burden, Paige turned to the two smirking capes in front of her. "And you wonder why Taylor doesn't let you do the negotiations."

"Please, Taylor rocks, but her idea of 'negotiating' usually involves stabbing someone in the eye," Steve scoffed. "I've never stabbed anyone in the eye. Well, never while negotiating with them anyways."

"You did shoot that one guy though," Greg pointed out.

"In the foot!" Steve defended. "So he had a limp for a few weeks, next time he'll learn not to talk shit and keep to business. Besides, it only happened once."

"All good reasons why _I_ don't let either of you negotiate anymore, instead, I do it myself," Paige returned laughingly. "To answer your first question, Mr. Bensen should be here in about half an hour to pick up his purchases. The credits already cleared."

"Sweet. How many more do we have set up for today?"

"Just this one. I'm still waiting for replies over the other things we're selling. It was surprisingly easy to set up, and Atlas did his thing to make them 'authentic', which we know they are, even if we can't prove it here. If they test it, they'll know, and we're selling them for way less than they should be worth, so its really a win win for everyone."

All three turned to their leader seeing her sitting against a large metal crate. Urz laying next to her, head in her lap as she read from one data pad to the next. Steve noticed they weren't the only ones who thought it a strange sight, as several dockworkers would pause when they caught sight of them.

"Well, at least she's trying," Steve muttered. "No one's dead yet."

"That's not very fair, Steve," Paige remarked as she nudged him, bringing his attention to the yellow haired cape. "Did you talk to her?"

"Yeah, couple of hours before we hit the relays."

Greg nodded. "Yeah, she even came by engineering and said we get to look around and stuff once she gets all the paperwork done."

"Oh, well that explains what Sharee's been up to." Paige said. "She's been doing a lot of extranet research into genetic mods as well as several other medical things for Alex. I thought she was just looking for the current immunizations or something, but then I saw the stroller was out."

Greg nodded to her comment. "Saw the same thing. This place is big enough Alex will appreciate it. Still wish she'd let me put in an anti grav for it. It's proven tinkertech, Taylor tested it."

"Please, unless she finds something here, I doubt she's going to be okay with replacing the old one. She picked that one out after two weeks of researching 'stroller safety guides' or something."

"Uh-oh."

Both capes turned to Steve, finding him still watching Taylor. A look showed her leaning back, datapad touching her chin, deep in thought. Taylor remained that way until Cessi appeared at the top of the ramp, walking toward the three of them. They watched as Taylor followed her with her eyes.

"I know that look," Steve muttered. Greg grunted in agreement.

No one spoke until Cessi joined them. "Um, why is Captain Hebert looking at me like that?"

"Probably because you call her 'Captain Hebert'," Paige snickered, getting a chuckle out of Greg, though Steve remained quiet.

"B-but, she's the Captain! What else am I supposed to call her?"

"Call her Taylor," Steve suggested. "That's her name. Man, I hope she's not thinking of doing something really out there."

"Oh. Shit. No, man. She wouldn't pull a Frisco' again… Right?" Greg asked, not sounding very confident in his own assertion.

"Um, what is going on?" Cessi interrupted, only to notice Taylor walking towards them, her eyes still focused on the quarian. She didn't take her eyes off Cessi, until she was standing in front of Steve.

"It's your fault," Taylor stated to the thinker, startling him.

"Fuck that. I don't know what you're cooking up, but I didn't do a damn thing."

"I promised the girls we'd go exploring, so we're doing that today," Taylor stated, instead of explaining. "You chickening out, or you coming with?"

"By exploring, you mean clothes shopping, don't you?"

"Need to adapt to the times, I guess." Taylor replied, sounding about as enthusiastic as Steve did with the idea. "Wouldn't hurt to check it out, besides, there's tons of little things on my list that Sharee's been adding to replace our old stuff with modern. There's other stuff too, once Sharee figures out what we need."

Steve folded his arms, shaking his head. "Right, pass."

"Good, then you can do the grocery shopping." Taylor smirkingly returned, handing him the datapad in her hand. "Get the list, just make sure it's food we can eat. The more variety, the better, for both our lists. Cessi has different needs, make sure you take that into consideration. The term is 'dextro', should you get confused."

"Oh, no Captain, there's no need to do that." Cessi interrupted. "Standard nutrient paste is perfectly fine."

Taylor rolled her eyes, ignoring their new engineer. "Check with turians, they eat the same stuff. Keep in mind she can't take off her helmet to eat, which means sealed containers specially meant to use with her suit. Sort of like the MRE's we got for emergencies. I've allocated funds for sweets, make sure to get Cessi some turian chocolate and whatever else they have, but mention its for a quarian. You might get some funny looks over it, but ignore them. I don't want to get a message that you're in C-sec custody because you stabbed some vender over this."

"No really I'm fine, Cap–!"

Taylor looked sharply at Cessi, silencing her. "I told you, we're pretty informal here, and I'm not going to have a member of my team eating crap. You're going to learn quickly, we take care of our own here, no matter what that is. You're 'crew of the _Exiled_ ' now, one of us. That means at the very least we can provide food you can eat and like. Since you're working with Greg, it really is the least we can do."

"Hey!"

"Racism?" Steve asked, bringing the conversation back, and ignoring Gregs affronted look. "And why would I stab anyone? My guns work fine."

"True, but you can't carry a sidearm in most places without a permit, and I'm not paying those prices since we're outside military channels. Knives are fine, and no one's going to question your omni tool. As to the other thing, yeah, being quarian here is kind of like being black in Empire territory, back on Bet, just without the violence. Well, mostly without the violence. My main concern is supplies; there's not much we can do to change people who don't want to listen, you know?"

"Don't mean I have to like it. Plenty of places here to buy from if the guy's going to be a dick."

Taylor nodded. "Agreed, but better I tell you than you end up in C-sec. I know I probably would have if I didn't know."

"Good point," Steve agreed. "What else?"

"Just that the ship is located at H 254. Purchases will be delivered here, but since we're all going to be out, make sure to have a time in mind for when they show. Other than that, the day is yours. Stay out of trouble, look around and stuff. I'll message you when the girls are done with our stuff and we'll grab lunch. I was thinking of something on Silversun Strip. Sebastian mentioned he took shore leave there once. I'd like to check it out."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

The room was completely empty, except for two features. The first was a circular grey pad that was the only part of the floors, walls, or domed ceiling not tiled in reflective black. The second, a single chair, which was currently occupied. The room itself was specifically designed to be the nexus of all operations. In here, the walls could show any of the hundreds of operations currently in motion, but currently only showed a sun in the stages of going nova, an image that pleased the man sitting in the chair. The frown on his face as he watched the recording he just received however, indicated the view was the last thing on his mind.

His suit, an impeccable modern style giving him the casual swagger of a charming billionaire, was open at the top accentuating the strength he liked to project. That of he could do whatever he pleased. A look he cultivated in the circles he socialized within in his 'day' life. Distinguishing grey streaks at his temples were highlighted by the luminescence of the vid screen. Artificial eyes, replacing those lost many years ago, shown in an electric blue through a mature, chiseled face. Intently studying the frozen image in front of him. Well manicured hands brought the cigarette to his lips, before lighting it with an old fashioned zippo. The only noise in the room, the metallic clink of it closing, and being placed on the small stand next to him. Followed, by the smokey exhale a moment later, and a single word. "Replay."

The image reset becoming a hallway once again. The camera was obviously not at head height for the agent, judging by the angle as it advanced quickly, before finally ending on the bridge of the _SSV Elberus_.

The doors opening allowed the feminine voice to be heard. "… negative sir. No visual, nothing showing on sensors. As far as the ship can tell, there is nothing out there."

"Something is out there. Space doesn't just explode like that for no reason." The camera moved, showing a tall man, obviously the ships XO, studying a readout intently. The tension in the room was palpable as the view panned across the bridge. Notably, the Captain, back ramrod straight with hands clasped tightly behind his back, tense, yet calm.

The view screen showed the emptiness of space, except it didn't look normal. A huge area seemed to be fluctuating, as if the very fabric of reality had been altered giving the star scape a seemingly mirage sort of waiver. The effect was almost undetectable, and might have been missed visually, if not for the mass relay in the background. While not within the effect, the effect was partially between the _Elbrus_ and the relay, distorting its image and highlighting that something was not right.

"Analysis?" the XO barked.

"I can't make heads or tails from any of our sensors when we direct them at the phenomenon." The frustrated voice off camera stated. "Best as I can tell, it's shrinking and should be over in a few minutes. The only thing I _can_ tell you, is the energy released by the eruption was off the charts, and I mean way off the charts, but highly localized, which makes no sense whatsoever. Nothing releasing _that_ much energy should be able to survive to contain it."

The captains voice broke the silence that followed. "Any response to our hails?"

"No sir. I have sent our request through every channel known and in service. No response or indication that anything is out there to hear it..."

"Contacts! Two corvette class signatures just appeared on scope, one heading in system, one heading to the relay."

"Engage the signature moving in system," the captain ordered.

"Direct hit…"

"Second signature moving _fast_ … gone sir."

"Inform Fifth Fleet to intercept, if they can," the captain turned to his right, looking at one of the technicians. "Analysis of the debris?"

For a moment, the tech looked as if he was ready to pull his hair out. His answer however, was the professional calm one would expect from a bridge officer on a dreadnought.

"No debris to analyze, sir. I have no explanation for it. Whatever we hit, it's just gone."

"Did we get anything on the second ship?" the XO asked.

"No sir, by the time we managed to get sensor locks, they were already going through the relay."

"…I see," the captain said. "Send an encrypted dispatch to Arcturus Station with everything we know about this encounter. I will be in my quarters waiting for Admiral Hackett's communique. XO, you have the Bridge."

"Aye aye, sir."

The image froze again, showing the concerned and thoughtful look of the captain's face. The man in the chair flicked his ashes into the tray next to him, just as thoughtful. Someone avoided all detection grids, Arcturus station, the Fifth fleet, got into Sol, the very cradle of humanity, and kicked in the front door of their house, and got away with it.

That, did not sit well.

Still turning over the encounter in his mind, he took the bottle of bourbon, pouring a measure into his glass. The harsh bite, soothing in its familiarity as he took in other reports from other assets within the Alliance, not that there was much. Rumors, speculation, but all the facts were being kept very outside his reach.

For now.

Eyes moved to other data feeds showing reports of a different nature. Human colonies that had been attacked with all inhabitants vanished without a trace. The attacks had increased over the last few months. Where before they were staggered to one every few months, there were two recorded this month alone, and if the data proved out, more were expected. So far, he had them narrowed down to four likely targets. Horizon, Ferris Fields, Freedom's Progress, and Tiptree. All remote, all undefended, and the worst fact of all, all in the Terminus Systems.

Each attack was characterized by the same theme. Business as usual, then completely gone. Equipment, food, utilities, everything left behind, but all the people, every single human, was gone with absolutely no explanation why.

No one, not the Council humanity held a seat on, nor the Alliance whose sworn duty it was to protect humanity, would lift a finger about it. But, that was expected. Tied by the galactic politics and the alien Councillors who held sway, the Alliance was, at best, ineffectual anyways. Thankfully, humanity had Cerberus. Which brought him to the last two projects in front of him.

A quick glance showed him the Normandy Cell was well along. Final shakedown scheduled for next week. So far all systems proved action ready, a full month ahead of schedule with very promising results. The last project, however, was the key to most of his current plans, the lynchpin.

A few taps of his fingers sent the request, his chair spun around so he faced the grey pad behind him as he waited. Not that he had to wait long, his operative at Lazarus Station was always prompt.

Her image manifested in the center of the pad revealing the skin tight uniform she favored. Emphasizing her height, and sculpted physique, exemplifying her considerable feminine assets. Not surprising considering her origins.

"Miranda."

"Illusive Man."

The Illusive man took a long drag from his cigarette before he cut to the heart of the matter, which he knew Miranda preferred. "Where are we?"

"All tests have been coming back far above expectations. I believe we should be ready to wake him in two weeks."

"Excellent. That is sooner than I expected from your last report."

"Shepard responded well to the latest treatments, thanks to the information gained by our operatives returning from the Salarian Union. If the next stress test come back as promised, then we can continue with the last of the repairs before we proceed with testing his mental acuity."

"I see. Developments have arisen that concern me. How soon can we have Shepard on his feet and ready?"

The woman frowned, clearly doing what she did best. "I can't say, but if the stress tests come back well enough, we might be able to cut down time by as much as a week. Personally, I would not advise this…"

"Understandable, however, unavoidable. I would like to see Shepard combat ready and awake in one week's time. That will correspond with the shakedown."

"Very well, sir, but I am against this. If I may ask, why rush now, when we're so close to completing our work properly?"

"I'll fill you in when you bring in Shepard; meanwhile, all you need to know is that we need him on his feet as soon as we can." The Illusive man paused, sipping from the glass in his hand. "If the data is anything to go by, we are going to need him now, more than ever."

"Alright, however, I would like to again request you allow me to implant the control chip design I sent you last month. If we're going to rush his recovery, the chances of something going wrong increase. While I can understand the importance of bringing back Shepard just as he was before his death, all my tests show there is no likelihood that it would affect his cognitive abilities. I still feel we cannot afford an investment of this magnitude being allowed to operate unchecked."

The enigmatic man in the chair nodded, hearing her point. Tumbler lowing away as he swallowed, cigarette replacing it as he took a long, thoughtful drag, clearly contemplating the question.

"Request denied."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

I looked up from my omni tool when Sharee started gushing, "Oh, look at this, Paige! The Cision Pro Mark 3. It uses tiny mass effect fields to break up plaque and massage the gums. And look, they even have a little one for Alex called the Little Tyke Cision Mark 2! Oh, how cute, it even has a little volus guy on it! I'm getting them."

I slunk a bit further in my seat, returning my attention to my omni tool, and the data I was examining. Next to me, Cessi was doing the same while little Alex slept in his stroller between us peacefully.

"Wow, really? Five thousand credits? _Each_?"

"It says here that the Cision Pro is the leader in oral hygiene care. Seriously, why use paste, keeping in mind that fluoride is technically toxic to humans, or stupid bristles that get nasty when you can use something like this? Taylor…"

I waved her on. This was a classic example of how much Sharee contributed, not that she felt the same way. Not one of us ever thought about updating our toothbrushes, yet she did. While I was about as uninvested in the topic as a person can be, and still be around, I had to admit, it wasn't a bad idea to go 'modern' with the simple stuff. "Go ahead, just remember to warn Greg not to mess with them. I'm not replacing his if he breaks it, and I damn sure don't want him 'improving' mine, like he did those roombas."

Paige giggled, as she accessed a kiosk of her own while Sharee answered. "Thanks! I'll make sure he knows not to tinker with them," Sharee said seriously, the words or else were mumbled, as she was already confirming the purchase at the kiosk.

I changed pages, going from my research on the Battle of the Citadel to my next topic, rumors of human colonies disappearing, while checking the time. I sighed, we'd been at this for hours. I was never much of a 'girly girl' but that didn't mean I did not enjoy shopping from time to time, but this was getting ridiculous. They didn't even look the least bit ready to stop.

"Um, guys? Not to be a killjoy, but I think we should take a break for lunch."

Paige looked at me, eyes glittering knowingly. "Sounds good, I could do with something." Sharee only nodded, clearly still going through the kiosk she was attached to.

I opened a com line to the guys, but instead of Steve answering, Greg did, though I could hear Steve in the background, as well as Miguel laughing his ass off.

" _Yo."_

" _Dude, its like, ham and cheese inside a little bread thing and you put it in the microwave. How the fuck do you not know what a Hot Pocket is?"_

"Problems, Greg?" I asked smiling.

" _Have you ever tried to describe something like a Hot Pocket to a turian before?"_

"Er, no?"

" _Don't."_

" _Motherfucker, do you even know what ham_ is _?"_

"I'll keep that in mind." I laughed. "How goes the shopping on your end?"

" _Done awhile ago, but Steve's not. I think the turian's getting frustrated with him. When their little side thingys tighten on their faces, and they growl, that's bad right?_ "

"Yeah, usually means they're not very happy."

" _Better get my man out of here then. This guy's huge."_

"Probably a good idea. Meet us at the coordinates I just sent you, I found a place for lunch while Paige was checking out last years asari line of shoes and dresses."

Instead of answering, I heard Steve's voice, clearer which could only mean he gave up talking to the vendor. " _Man, the future sucks. No one's even heard of a Hot Pocket before! Seriously, what the fuck do they eat around here? I'm not letting this go, we still have a few left, right?_

" _Ah, yeah man, we got still some. Chill dude…"_

" _Good, cuz seriously, this thing isn't over. Me and you man, we're bringing the motherfucking Hot Pocket back!"_


	7. Arrival 7

**Arrival Story Arc: 1.7**

Naps, while not his favorite thing, were good here. The floor was hard and always clean, not like where he used to be. The best part of here was his new pack. The pack was very important to Urz. Without packmates, you were alone, and being alone meant hunting was hard. But the worst part of being alone was being vulnerable, because without a pack, there was no one to watch over you when you napped.

Not just any pack would do though. A pack had to be strong, and its alpha had to be the strongest. Strong enough to keep the strong in line, to keep them safe with good places to den and good hunting. Without a strong alpha, you had weak packmates. Packmates who were sick, like the one napping above him, that was different, but packmates who were just weak, no. Urz was not an alpha, but he was very strong. This was why Urz did not have a pack until he found his new Alpha. Those who were strong did not want Urz, all the others were weak, his Alpha was not, and she wanted Urz.

Urz understood this, understood his place in the pack. That was why he was here, with the sick packmate who was napping. Alpha told Urz to stay. Urz understood the word 'stay', it meant to be 'here', to guard here, and to eat non-packmates who come here. His old Alpha had Urz stay many times. He always did what his Alpha commanded, because he was good, and Urz understood his place in the pack.

The wall moving brought his head up, but no packmates stood there. He did smell something, it was like his pack, but not. Urz rose to his feet, slowly padding to the open wall. His muzzle rose, sniffing. His pack's scent was everywhere, but he ignored it, savoring the new smells.

Non-packmates were here. Good, that meant he could eat them, which would make Alpha happy and maybe get him more of the new wondrous things called, scratches! While napping was not his favorite thing, eating non-packmates rivaled with scratches as his new favorite thing now that the Alpha showed them to him.

Urz eased forward, silently, taking great care not to let his feet make noise. Stealth, he understood as well. It was part of hunting. The smell grew stronger, but when he heard the noises, he lowered himself, going slower so they would not know he was there. This you had to do when you hunted alone, and the pack was gone trusting Urz to protect here. He was in the big place that led to outside when he finally found the intruders.

"…about this, Morgan."

"Look, they're gone, we saw them leave. There's no one here and I want to find out what they are hiding."

"They have a varren though!"

"Please, not even krogan leave those things loose on their ships. It's probably locked up somewhere."

"I still don't get what we are doing in here. They're just a bunch of kids, there can't be anything of value here. Besides, if they really are mercenaries, they're not going to like finding us going through their stuff."

Urz controlled his snort. Weak, the second one was weak. He did not understand the noises they made, but he understood tones. The second was scared, so he was weak. The first, was scared too, Urz could smell it, but he was still getting closer. Urz decided to eat him first. Eating the strongest made you strong, that was the way of things. Alpha understood this, as did Urz. He slinked behind a thing that would hide him, getting closer to his chosen target.

"Help me open this crate, Jacob."

"Fine, but hurry it up."

"You're going to sing a different tune when we get something worth selling."

Urz looked around the thing he was hiding behind. The opening to outside was closed. The intruders were standing next to things his packmates concerned themselves with. Urz watched as they opened it, looking through the things inside, before opening another one. Seeing their backs turned, Urz slinked forward, getting closer.

" _Fuck!_ Will you look at this."

"I have never seen a rifle like that before. If it's experimental tech, I bet we could get ten thousand credits selling it the Shadow Broker!"

"Told you they had something here. Grab that one and let's go."

"Hey, what the hell are those?"

"Just cleaning droids. Come on, grab the rifle and let's get out of here!"

Step by step Urz stalked forward, keeping his attention on the prey. Two of the small round non flesh things that kept this part of the den clean, moved out of the wall, humming a soft little noise as they moved to the prey from the front. They kept their attention on the non flesh things, which made Urz happy because the prey still had their backs to him.

The two figures stood still, watching the non flesh things wearily when they came to a stop a tails length in front of them. The figures looked at each other, then back to the things. Then the things shot bright lights at them, that was when Urz attacked.

A bright light appeared from the first thing, cutting off the leg of the second figure just as Urz wrapped his teeth around the leg of the first, jerking his head. Screams of pain shattered the quiet of the open place, making Urz happy as he tasted prey, felt his claws dig through them, and snapped his head back and forth trying to rip his prize free. Another bright light helped him, staggering him slightly as he suddenly found meat free of the prey. He turned to the figures, bloody leg in his mouth watching the bright lights create hot food smells from the intruders, until they stopped screaming and stopped moving. Finally, two even brighter lights burst forward into the bodies of the prey. They were hot, like the sun of the old place, and made the flesh of the prey like dirt.

Urz snorted at the non flesh things when they moved over the piles of dirt, making them go away. They did not try and take away his food, so Urz tuned, going back to the sick packmate to enjoy his prize. The wall was still open when he got there, which was good because Urz did not know how to open them. He settled down where he was before, the meaty leg dropped in front of him. It wouldn't last long, but the taste was good, fresh was always best. A little image appeared next to the open wall, not real. It looked strange to him, but he understood it was kind of a packmate too, even though it had no smell.

"Thank you, Urz."

He understood 'thank you'. It meant a packmate was happy with him, Urz grunted. The image went away, and the open wall, closed. The Alpha will be pleased with Urz. He was sure, he'd get those scratches he liked. When Alpha was happy, Urz got scratches, that was the new way of things. Old Alpha never gave scratches. Urz liked scratches. He'd make sure new Alpha was always happy, then he'd get scratches all the time.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

The diner I found was called 'Joey's'. Joey's, was nothing like the other places to get a bite to eat on Silversun. First, it didn't have tons of neon signs proclaiming it's existence, just a simple door you would probably walk by and never notice unless you knew it was there. Second, it's theme was something you didn't see anymore, but was something we recognized easily as we walked in.

The walls were decorated in Earth twentieth century memorabilia. Licence plates, real pictures of places—funny enough, we'd robbed a couple of them on Bet—cars, a couple of street signs, a few sports shirts, some newspaper clippings. Even posters of movies we saw new maybe a month ago, decorated all three floors. However, more than the feel of the place, it was the smell.

Steve called it first as we all just took in the decor. "Oh shit, I swear we just walked into Fugly Bob's."

"I can feel my arteries hardening as we speak." Greg added. "Man, I love this place."

I smiled. "Told you I found us a place to get something good to eat."

"That you did. Welcome to Joey's. How about I show you to a table?" The host asked. I stared at him for a moment, not because I'd never seen a turian up close like this before, but because there was turian surrounded by things I grew up with. After the initial shock passed, I answered.

"Thank you, second floor please. Near the balcony if you have it." I informed the host. He nodded, smiled, and led us upward to a free table. Once we were seated, he passed out menus to everyone. I was impressed, they weren't datapads, but actual menus. When I opened I was surprised to find there was even a selection of dextro dishes, though I couldn't tell you what comprised any of it, but they looked pretty much like everything else.

I pointed it out to Cessi, who was just sitting there looking around a bit confused. Her eyes widened and she bounced a bit in her seat when she saw the selection, which made several of us smile at her excitement. Next to Cessi was another quarian, Lia'Vael nar Ulnay, the surprise guest of the day. While Steve was busy arguing with the vendor, Greg had apparently chatted up Lia while she was looking through a kiosk of used ships on Zakera Ward, and they got to talking tech.

Somehow, I really wasn't surprised that he invited her along. Not that it bothered me, we could afford another, though if things kept going like this, we'd be able to apply for admission into the Flotilla as an honorary member.

I let the 'Fleet Sisters' go over the list, looking more enthusiastic by the moment as I turned to Greg. He was talking to Paige about something. Whatever it was, had him looking over a datapad, glancing up occasionally to make his points. Paige didn't look like she was following, but nodded along anyway. Sharee was making sure Alex was secured in his chair, for the sixth time. Steve and Miguel were going over something on another data pad, no clue what, but it had the marine nodding along with a smile on his face, which usually was a bad thing for someone.

What a motley crew we were putting together, and things haven't even really kicked off yet. Still, in a world of technology as advanced as the galaxy was, couldn't hurt to add another technician to the roster. Besides, we were going to need every hand we could get soon. Lunch passed quickly, for all we spent over an hour hanging out at the table. Work was quickly set aside when food arrived, Lia and Cessi laughed and enjoyed themselves, the gang did the same. It was nice.

I had a good time as well, though I kept my eyes looking over the balcony. Eventually, I got up and stood by the railing, leaning on it and looking outward. Watching as I ran though the things we needed to get done and the two main missions we had coming up. Which hopefully T'soni got info on soon, though if things panned out today, we might be able to double our chances of finding something.

Steve eventually joined me, propping his elbows on the railing. "So, whats so awesome about that entrance over there?"

"You know, there's an arcade just down the block from here, right?"

"Man, playing to my inner video game nerd, thats just not right," Steve pointed out, trying to look affronted at my evasion, and failing badly.

I chuckled. "Think you can keep our growing band of misfit toys from mischief?"

"Just tell me I won't have to hide any bodies like we did in San Francisco, and yeah, maybe."

"Fair enough," I smiled. "No, no bodies, but I'm waiting for someone to show. He has an apartment not far from here. Not sure how long this will take, but if things go well, an hour at least."

"So, who are you waiting for?"

"Anderson," I replied. "Specifically, former Captain now Humanity's sitting Councillor Anderson. He was sort of… Sebastian's mentor, father figure maybe. Especially after that fiasco on Torfan when they pulled Sebastian from active duty. He was the one who tapped Sebastian for the XO slot for the original _Normandy_ when the plans went from the design stage, to dry dock."

"So, he's a big dog then?" Steve asked. "Why are we hunting big dogs now? I thought we were doing this low key."

"You said we should trust Sebastian's friends, I can't think of one whos in a better position to help, or to listen. Greg has the right idea, about adding to the team, even if I'm starting to think he's got a thing for quarians."

"Yeah, well, the hips, you know? Got to give them that, even if you can't see what they look like."

"They're pretty," I whispered so only Steve could hear me. "Tali was, or _is_ I guess. More humanlike than the asari. Sharp features, especially in the cheekbones. Their eyes don't actually glow, so you know. Not like you would think from their faceplates. The back of their eyes have this special reflective layer we call the _tapetum lucidum_ , like a cat or dog. Something about the lights inside their helmets and the materials used to make the faceplate create that effect. Their eyes are even slitted like a cat's. Tali had hair that looked metallic, but wasn't. Ears are not like ours, more like cartilage shells, and they have elongated canines, but otherwise, pretty close if you discount the cybernetics they use to bolster their weakened immune system and the three digit hands and feet."

Steve's voice lowered, matching mine. "You just get that?"

I offered a weak smile, but it didn't last. "They were _close_ , if you get me. Closer than Sebastian and I were, but she also had a lot more time with him than I did, so it makes sense."

Steve sighed. "You know, that's going to be a thing, later. I'm worried about that. A lot."

"I know, I'm not exactly looking forward to it either. But it's like you said, what happens, happens. We're here to help Sebastian. Anything else is a bonus. I knew before we left, things like this were going to come up, and maybe Sebastian won't want me this time. It's a possibility, yeah, I get that, but I'm not going to know unless I try. Odds are, saving him is all I'm going to get out of this thing, but I can live with that if it means he's alive and happy. More than a fair exchange when you consider what he gave us on Earth Bet."

"But you won't be. Happy, I mean."

"Who knows? I might find someone. Galaxy's a big place after all. Besides, the way I fight, the chances I take, good odds I'll end up dead long before this is an issue. When you think about the Reapers getting here in, one maybe two years now? Well, you get the idea."

"Man, you get any more positive, and I'm gonna have to brain ya. That shit's depressing. Besides, I bet even Greg would bet on us getting through this thing. Shepard didn't talk about them much, but I talked with him about the Reapers once. Well, we were talking about Dragon being an AI and shit, back when we took over the Birdcage, remember?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, we got to talking, and he told me stuff about them, you know? Trying to get me to understand why he was sort worried. I got it, but, well, this was Dragon, right? It's all good, or I hope so, since we cut her loose. Anyways, point is, he was telling me about how they set this whole thing up, the cycles, how people developed tech, all that so that when they got here, they'd always have the upper hand. Well, they don't now, cuz we got Greg, and the shit that guy can come up with, there's no predicting, and we got you. You're so fucking crazy, they won't know what hit them. Like I said, I'd bet on us."

"I would, too," I agreed. "First though, we have to deal with the second stringers abducting human colonies. I don't remember much about them, just vague hints, but I know they're linked with the Reapers, and Sebastian fought against them. With all that we have going on, I'm not really concerned about my love life, or lack of one, with Sebastian. It will get sorted in time, one way or another."

My eyes narrowed as I spotted who I was waiting for. "Keep an eye on them. I'll be back soon."

I slung myself over the railing, dropping the short distance below before Steve replied.

I landed on my feet, quickly pulling the hood of my hoodie over my head, concealing my face as I made my way through the crowd. Blending in, being unnoticable among people like this, was something I knew a bit about. Helps when you're a wanted criminal and people know your face. You either hone skills to let you blend in, or you just learn to stop going out in public altogether.

My flies landed on him first, which helped, I didn't have to watch him to know where he was. Not an advantage most had, and one I've exploited more times than the media ever found out about. I stayed well back, slouching a bit and using the bodies of the people around me to keep me from his sight. Anderson continued on, seemingly unaware he was being followed as he made his way home.

I knew differently.

He knew he was being followed. Anderson wasn't some regular grunt, he was N7 back in the day. How did Pressley put it? If you melted down all the medals he's earn during his years of service, you could make a life sized statue of him, and Anderson wasn't a small guy. He wasn't just good, but _damn_ good. One of the best. Really, the only thing that surprised me about him knowing he was being followed, was how quickly he picked up on it. I only just started him when my flies felt him tense. The question now was, did he know I knew he knew? When he turned into an alley, I figured I'd have my answer soon enough. Something about it felt wrong, so I walked down the one before it, coming around the others side, behind him. I stopped at the corner, putting my back to the wall next to the entrance.

He turned before I got into place, facing my direction, sidearm pointing at the entrance in front of me, waiting.

"I don't suppose you would accept that I'm just a concerned citizen looking to talk to my species' councillor, would you?" I asked loudly into the alley.

"No."

"Didn't think so. You know, one of these days, someone's going to tell me, yeah, sure, I'd buy that, and I won't know how to continue afterward."

Anderson chuckled, though is weapon never lowered or wavered. "Who are you?"

"I have a lot of names right now. Allison Gunn is what's on my passport for the moment."

"Fair enough. What do you want Ms. Gunn?"

"Depends on your tolerance level for crazy." I answered. There wasn't anyone on my side of the alley yet, but that could change at any moment. We needed to take this off the street, soon.

"Not very high at the moment, why don't you show yourself and we can discuss why you were following me."

I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Alright, just don't shoot me. I promised my friends I wouldn't hurt anyone today, but I doubt they'd let me live down getting shot either."

Anderson's chuckle welcomed me as I walked around the corner, hands at my sides in plain view. Dark skinned, tall, well built. Older guy, but that didn't mean anything considering the way he was standing. Confident, sure, assessing in his gaze as he took in the woman in front of him.

Anderson kept his sidearm trained on me, hand steady. "I don't know you."

"I'd be shocked if you did. I'm not from around here."

"That's plain by your speech. Colony raised? Not any dialect I'm familiar with though."

"Not really," I answered vaguely. "But I wasn't following you to talk about where I was raised."

"True enough. So, what was so important to you that you _were_ following me?"

"Shepard."

"Shepard's dead, two years now," Anderson returned curtly, fist clenching tighter to the weapon in his grip.

"Not anymore: that is what I want to talk to you about, but out here, it's not safe. Not for what I know."

Anderson's face darkened, a hard look in his eyes as he stared at me. "What kind of game are you playing?"

"No games. The only thing I can risk saying openly, and even this is too much, is that Cerberus has Shepard, I have a team that's going to get him back. Details, need to be in private. We both know how long Cerberus's reach is."

"What in God's name does Cerberus want with Shepard's body?"

"To bring him back to fight the Reapers. They succeeded, or are close to it."

"Impossible. Why should I believe anything you say?"

"The funny thing is, this isn't even the hard to believe part. There are things he's told me, before, but in truth, the possibility that this information is known to others is more believable than what I could say. All I can tell you is, I don't have proof, but I know they have him. The worst possible thing that could happen, right now, is that Shepard feels indebted to Cerberus."

"You said you had a team, where are they?" Anderson demanded.

"Finishing lunch, I guess. That's where I left them when I spotted you. I came alone." I blew out a breath, not very happy with how long this was taking. "Before you decide to leave, I need to ask you to seriously think about what I said. The intel I have, it's good, but incomplete. I'm still looking for two locations, and I won't lie, I need help finding them. Alliance resources could speed up the process."

"And what if you're wrong?"

"The real question you should be asking yourself, Anderson, is what if I'm _right?_ "

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Two hours, and one of the most uncomfortable conversations ever later, found me rejoining the gang. I was deep in my thoughts as we approached the Exiled, thinking of my talk with Anderson. I didn't walk away with what I wanted, but I did get him to listen. That was more going for us than we had this morning, and probably about as good as it was going to get.

"Excuse me, are you 'Allison Gunn'?"

I didn't realize it when the guys quieted, but the reason for it was standing right in front of me. A turian in bulky armor, C-Sec credentials stenciled into his chest plate, looking at me as I realized he was there, and apparently talking to me.

"Um, yeah. Something wrong, Officer?"

"Have you seen this man?" he asked instead of answering me.

I looked at the datapad, nodding. "Yeah, don't remember his last name but I think he called himself, Morgan. He helped me go through Docking procedures and equipment procurement this morning. Why?"

"He failed to report for a meeting he was scheduled to attend. His supervisor is concerned as Mr. Heughs is not in the habit of doing so. He was last seen in this area of the Docking Ring. There have been incidents of thefts recently, which leds us to believe there may be something more to his disappearance than it seems. C-sec formally requests permission to examine the inside of your vessel to verify he is not in there."

I nodded. Besides, he was looking for a person, not wanting to look at our tech or our files. not that saying 'no' was an option, judging by the look of some of the guys he brought with him. "Sure, we have nothing to hide."

The turian nodded as if he didn't expect less. I waved the guys off to the side, where other C-sec guards would watch them. I activated my omni tool, signaling the boarding ramp to lower, then escorted the turian inside.

I frowned slightly when I looked around our cargo bay, seeing crates stacked around in no particular order. We were going to need to fix that, or we were never going to find anything. Our tour moved from there, through the ship as the turian check each room with a general disinterest that left me wondering if he was even bothering to pay attention, until we got to the Med bay.

"One of ours is resting inside, and I have a varren watching over her, just so you don't freak out when you see him."

"Understood."

I shrugged at the curt reply, opening the door. Urz lay where I told him to, head popping up, apparently excited to see me, making me smile. The turian, not so much. I held out my hand, motioning Urz to stay put, which he thankfully did as the C-sec agent tapped away on his omni tool.

"Thank you Ms. Gunn for your cooperation. If we have any further questions for you, you will be notified immediately."

I nodded, watching him retrace our steps. The ant on the back of his armor told me he walked straight off the ship, leaving with the others he brought with him.

"Weird," I mumbled as I turned again to Urz, noticing he was sitting next to me, tail wagging back and forth looking imploringly at me. I knelt down, giving him a good scratch along his spines. His eyes immediately started doing that strange sparking thing as his tongue rolled out of the side of his mouth. Grunts of happiness sounding deep in his chest as I paid attention to him.

"So, what did you do today, Urz?"


	8. A Villian in Need 1

**A Villain in Need Story Arc: 2.1**

Our common room reflected strongly that, until our jump, there were only four of us in living residence on the _Exiled_. Each of us had our prefered spots to relax, unwind, or to think. Steve liked his armchair, while Greg preferred the two seater he'd dragged in here from one of their old hideouts the Protectorate had never found. The coffee table that sat in front of it was usually dominated by one tinker project or another, but it was empty today. Paige liked the dusky couch, while I usually preferred my chair in the corner. I set up a bookshelf next to it that hosted a collection of knickknacks and books collected from various stops during our wanderings.

As I looked around, I noticed our décor was about what you would expect from four different personalities sharing limited space: without overall theme. A few pictures, a few of them holos, on the walls, usually of us before the Leviathan fight. The occasional poster or picture frame that caught one of our eyes fought for space. When my eyes fell on one of the larger ones, I smiled. It was a world map of earth, done to look like an old style sea chart or something, just with shiny colors and such. Paige put it there, stating that it wasn't likely they would ever give it back to Saint anyways, so we might as well make use of it. Not a lot of Dinah or Sharee's stuff around, but I noticed a few things that were new.

Thinking of, Dinah was looking a lot better lately. Still looked a bit punch drunk from her brush with Nyxeris, and the wall she'd slammed into. Sharee was sitting on the couch, a datapad and Alex in her lap as she showed him one of the educational programs she bought. Hell, I was tempted to use it myself since it was targeted at the different galactic races, how to identify them, and introductory things a kid should know about them. There were races in there Sebastian never mentioned to me, and you never knew when you might come across them. Sharee congratulated Alex when he successfully identified one, and helped him with his pronunciation. He was picking it up quick, but I wasn't surprised. The kid was bright, obviously taking after his mom.

Steve was in his chair, looking at a really old video game magazine he brought along. Not an uncommon occurrence in and of itself, except he seemed to be taking notes. It also worried me what his next idea was going to be. There was no telling really, though I shouldn't complain. The last thing any of our opposition would expect would be the crazy things the duo cooked up from such references. Some were useful, some not so much, though everything they came up with had purpose. The trick was finding out what, since some of the things they came up with were just really out there.

I looked to the side, seeing one of the tinker roomba's Greg made, going about its business. A classic example: high powered energy weaponry on automated cleaning robots. The only thing I could think of was it was his subtle way of never having to worry about commando crabs again. Though I only ever did that once, on purpose.

I knew from my bugs that Greg, Cessi, and Lia were still in engineering, likely finishing up the last of the hook up. Really, all that were left were system checks now, which was why most of us were here. I reached over Urz, who was napping next to my chair, grabbed my cup of tea and took a thoughtful drink.

Three days had passed since I'd met with Anderson. In that time, the used star drive had arrived, been secured to the _Exiled_ , and installed. All tests came back good and we were now able to travel to systems beyond the relays, fuel stores permitting. Still, we had access to most systems now, though we were still lacking in a good galaxy map interface. Other preparations for the two tasks ahead were done. The weapon lockers were changed up from our usual preferences to those most likely to be useful in a firefight of the level I expected for the new environment we found ourselves in. Everything was as ready as we could make things. We were ready.

Except we had no place to go yet. I was still waiting on Anderson to contact me, and I was starting to doubt he was going to. I sighed, leaning back into the armchair. Despite how everyone seemed to be into their own tasks, I noticed that I wasn't the only one frustrated with waiting. Then again, few of us did downtime well.

While Anderson hadn't contacted me, Liara had. However, her intel was vague: only that she was sure that Cerberus was funding or operating several unique freighters in the Terminus Systems. The few times the topic of Cerberus had come up, Sebastian would joke that the usual end of a Cerberus Op was when their experiments got loose and killed all their guys. While I had to take his word about the competence of their operations chiefs, whoever ran their supply lines obviously knew what they were doing.

Liara seemed confident she would get the intel we needed, but I saw how frustrated she was getting at a lack of results, even if she hid it well. Intelligence gathering wasn't easy, less so against an organization like Cerberus who liked their secrecy and were able to maintain it to the level they did over the years. While Liara was good, she was not only hampered by Cerberus's counterintelligence efforts, but that she was looking for information at all. We couldn't afford for Cerberus to know we were trying to close in or they'd move things around.

If they hadn't already.

Which brought things back to me or, more accurately, to what we were going to do now. While the Citadel was exciting, sitting around here wasn't getting us any closer to our objectives. So far, our only lead involved those strange freighters buying supplies at various locations in the Terminus. What made it odd was that Liara was unable to find out where those supplies were going. Also, the freighters only appeared near trade points, never along the trade routes themselves. Considering the sheer overwhelming amount of trading done in the galaxy, it was a really thin lead. So thin as to be transparent, but right now it was all we had. What caught my attention about it though, was one of its, less than legitimate stops: Omega.

While the Terminus could be, at best, called a confederation of slavers, pirates, warlords, and small time despots, what you couldn't call it was organized. A sort of badlands in the galaxy where the only rules were those you could enforce. In an environment like that, there was always a need for supplies. Pirates needed a place to unload loot, warlords needed a place to replace thugs, slavers needed a place to move meat, and despots needed a place to unwind after a long day of being ground down by the other three. Omega was all of that and more.

So a freighter with shady ties stopping there wasn't all that suspicious by itself, and even if there was a connection, it wasn't like records were kept on Omega as to the comings and going of its visitors. That tidbit had reminded me of the Omega 4 relay. Cerberus was interested in that particular relay, though I wasn't sure how I knew that. All I knew about it was from extranet research. So far, no ship going through the Omega 4 relay, has ever done so, and came back. Why, no one was certain, but there was suspicion that the Collectors knew, but if they did, they weren't sharing. Not that anyone knew a lot about the Collectors either. The only thing anyone knew for certain, and even that was a laughable rumor most didn't buy into, was that the Collector homeworld was on the other side. Considering how secretive they were, it wouldn't surprise me if they had a fleet on the others side blasting anything that came through.

It was so frustrating, this mental circle I found myself in. I rubbed my eyes, trying to ease the migraine I'd been feeling coming all morning.

"Is that for our situation, or me?"

"I'm not mad at you, Dinah," I answered wearily.

"Could have fooled me. You haven't said much since Steve cleared me."

I sighed at the concerned look on her face. I should have said something earlier. "Just trying to figure out how to get us going forward again."

"What seems to be the problem? I thought things were alright now that we have the engines fixed."

"Things haven't gone right since we got here." I offered a weak smile to let her know I wasn't talking about the Nyxeris incident. "The truth is: everything we set up, it was all in preparation for events that happened two years ago. We prepared to help Sebastian fight Saren and the Geth because that was what I knew the most about. Sebastian didn't like talking about when he worked for Cerberus and I haven't gotten much from the memories he gave me. But, here we are now, so... yeah."

"So, we're flying blind," Dinah summed up.

"Yeah."

"Okay," Dinah said cheerfully. "So, how do we fix things? I mean, we're still going to try and get the band back together, right?"

"I don't know," I whispered so only she could hear me. Her eyes widened at my admission, prompting me to explain. "Fact is, I'm not sure we can do this anymore. Not the way I want to do it. I'll get into it when the others join us."

Dinah nodded, sitting on the arm of my chair to wait as I leaned back and started going over the endless circle I seemed to be trapped in again. The fact was, I really didn't know how to move us forward. We had unlimited freedom with lots of options, but what we didn't have was a clear path that would allow us to achieve objectives. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Greg and our new quarian shipmates to join us.

As I watched Greg walk in flanked by our new teammates, I had to admit he had the right idea. During the installation both proved to know their stuff, even if they had a million questions Greg couldn't answer about the various tinker equipment we had. In that regard, they weren't the only ones, but we learned to stop asking along time ago.

"...like home. Well, our home. On the flotilla." Cessi's voice carried to us.

"Oh, I know. I don't know what your Pilgrimage instructor told you, but I was told humans didn't live in their ships like us, yet you do! The few ships I've been on were nothing like this one. It was like the ships were just things," Lia agreed.

Chuckling, Greg nodded along. "We'll, most of us lived here for a long time, until about a year ago. Yeah, we all had apartments on Earth and stuff, but we spent most of our time here, working. Well, except for Taylor, but she moved back before we jumped and we never messed with her stuff. Quick way to get bee'd, just so you know."

"What do you mean, 'bee'd'?" Cessi asked. "Is this a human thing?"

"A Matriarch thing, actually," I interrupted, smiling as I looked at Greg. "You guys done?"

"Yeah, all good. All the prelim tests came back rockin'."

I nodded, waving to the empty spaces around us. "Alright, settle in, we need to decide where we're going from here."

That got everyone's attention. Steve frowned, Sharee looked surprised, while Greg blinked, Dinah looked curious, and a bit worried. Paige just smiled, clearly just happy to know what was going on. I waited until everyone had grabbed a seat before I looked to our newest crew members.

"By now, I'm sure you've noticed the... unique tech we use."

I heard what sounded like a snort come from Lia, while Cessi's eyes narrowed as she replied. "Yes, and I would like to know more. Like: where did you get it? How does it work? From the few things Greg's told us, some of them are just not possible, yet not only are they, but you have production models that actually work!"

"Don't forget the unshackled A.I." Lia pointed out, a slight shudder noticeable even through her suit. "I'm still not very comfortable with that."

"I can see that," I admitted. "I would like to remind you, though, Atlas is part of the crew, the same as you and everyone else here. We're all very aware of the prejudice against synthetics, but Atlas isn't going to hurt any of us. That includes you two. He's been with us for over three years now and trust me, in that time he's had plenty of chances to do something, but hasn't."

"Not yet." Cessi muttered. "But you can't say he won't rebel later! The geth were good for a time too, but they rebelled!"

"I am not the geth," Atlas's strange voice added. "Matriarch accepted me as a living being. That is all that I wish, to be recognized as sentient. I do not expect to be accepted by all, but I do not desire acceptance by all, only by those whom I associate with. I am willing to prove myself to you, Cessi and Lia, if you are willing to do the same. Is this not the how trust is acquired?"

I watched as the quarians looked to where Atlas displayed his holographic avatar. Cessi answered first. "Yes, this is true. However, and I am speaking from the experience of my people, all synthetic life eventually turns. You might be good for us, but what about after we are gone? What happens if someone rewrites your code, or you decide you no longer like us, if even such an emotional term can be used with you. What then?"

"Am I to be judged by actions that I have not done yet? Am I to be held accountable for the actions of other synthetics when I am as different from them, as you are to humans? If so, then you should face reprisals for creating the geth in the first place, all of your people."

Lia scoffed. "We are. All you have to do is see how our people are treated by the galaxy as a whole to know. I even had a turian shout it at me after I asked him for a job with the salvaging crews."

"You see that as unfair." Atlas noted. "Yet you wish to hold me to the same unfair standard just because I am not an organic. I do not agree with how the Quarian people are treated. I will agree that some synthetic life is not compatible with organic life. Yet there are many examples of some organics who are not compatible with organics as well. I see no reason I should be judged by anything less than my own choices."

"True," I interrupted. If left to keep going, we'd never get to the things I wanted to discuss. This debate wasn't going to be settled by any of us any time soon. "The fact is, here on this ship, we judge people, all people, by their personal actions. Not by race, past or what they 'might' one day do. All of us are capable of terrible things, hell, I've done some pretty fucked up things. Most of us have. Fact is, none of us are without baggage, but we're all each of us has, and we take care of each other. I'm asking you now before we get too far into things, can you work with Atlas or can't you?"

Lai shrugged. "I'll try. I'm not willing to trust it, but I can work with it since you vouch for it."

That was about the best I could hope for, considering the history there. I thought turned to Cessi. Her head was bowed, clearly thinking it over. Made sense, of the two, she had the most knowledge of AIs. "Can I study it?"

"Can I cut you open and study your meat?" Atlas immediately snarked.

"Atlas," I reprimanded, trying to hide my wince, and my laugh at how big Cessi's eyes got. Thankfully, he didn't continue as I answered the quarian. "You can ask him questions, yes, but studying his code won't do you any good."

I raised my hand to keep her quiet when she straightened up. "Greg's filled me in on your specialty. I know you have a solid background in A.I. research and I'm not saying no because I don't think you won't understand his code. I'm saying no because I _know_ you won't. His obvious distaste for the idea aside, there is only one person who could ever understand Atlas's code: his creator, and he died a very long time ago.

"That aside, there's no reason you can't work with Atlas to improve your understanding and knowledge. Like you, Atlas has an interest in other synthetic life. So, if you can work with him, I think you'll eventually get what you are looking for, but don't mistake my resolve on this. I trust Atlas. He's one of us, but most importantly, he's my friend. You don't know me, but I've done some really horrible things to people who mess with my friends. I'd rather you didn't find out exactly how far I'm willing to take things, personally."

Cessi nodded, before meekly speaking. "Yes, Captain."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her. "Alright. So, some of what we're going to talk about is going to sound really weird. Feel free to chime in if you have something to contribute, but questions need to be left for later, okay?"

Once both nodded, I moved things along. "Alright. Greg, how much did we lose on arrival, inventory wise?"

"Small arms stuff?" the dark haired man asked. "Like weapons and defense tech? Two lockers were damaged when a power junction blew. I haven't had a lot of time to check them out yet, but some of that wasn't my tech. Stuff we bought or traded for at Toy Box, or acquired during raids. If the damage isn't too bad, its all still viable, otherwise we'd be better off using them as tinker bombs."

Steve snorted. "Those are fun. Greg and I used to do that with some of his really unstable stuff back in the day. I wouldn't recommend using them on anything running through vacuum though. Probably end up spacing ourselves along with the enemy."

"Noted," I said as I updated that bit of info on my datapad. "Ship status?"

"Weapons are offline and are most likely going to stay that way with our power issues; shields are good though. I was even able to get them working with the stealth systems again. Internally, we're solid and with all other systems good to go."

"Power issues?" I asked, frowning.

"Yeah, we lost seven conduits on arrival. We've managed to repair them all, but they don't work as well as the old ones. Combine that with damage to our power core, and you get our problems: high spikes that need to be constantly monitored and corrected."

Atlas continued for the tinker. "Cessi came up with a patch, Matriarch, that drastically reduces maintenance time. She created several monitoring VI's capable of predicting spikes and making adjustments that negate the worst of it. They are more efficient than the programs I created by a margin of thirty six percent."

"Well done." I couldn't tell which amused me more, her reaction to being praised, or that Atlas was the one who pointed out her contribution. I turned back to Greg who was also smiling at the uncomfortable quarian.

"Does that mean we have mobility and stealth back?"

"Well, sort of?"

"Sort of?"

"Well, we're going to be hella slow. Anything better than point five, and someone's going to notice us. We managed to fix a lot, but the simple fact is, we're just not generating the power we need anymore, and those systems take a _lot_ of power. From what Lia and Cessi have told me, drive cores aren't cheap, and we don't have anything like Dragon's set up at the Birdcage for those kinds of repairs. Besides that, I'm not sure anything we bought here would even work for us. Our needs are pretty specific and we didn't design the _Exiled_ for the kind of stuff we're doing now."

"Alright," I sighed, knowing the truth of that statement. "Any other issues, ship wise?"

"No, we're good. Structural integrity is back where it should be, I told you we're not as fast as we used to be, but we're good to hit systems close to relay systems. Oh, one thing I think you will like. Lia solved the problem I've been having with getting the T-5's to work. Turns out it was a simple fix."

"How so?" I asked surprised. While Lia wasn't a slouch, from what I knew of her, she wasn't exactly a weapons developer either.

"I was curious about how her suit worked, you know, considering how much they rely on them. She was explaining how the systems were all linked through a virtual militia of VI's, every system redundant and able to back up others while also managing their own systems when it hit me: if I redesign the T-5s along similar lines, they'll do everything we want them to do. I'm pretty sure it'll work. Figure, a day or two and I can have them operational ready. One day if I just work on our three."

"Do ours first." I smiled at the thought of having them ready. While I didn't doubt our old armor was up to the task, I didn't want to risk us in a firefight against unknown variables without better. The original T-5 concept was something Sebastian came up with at the end of the Reaper War. However, the problem we had then was the same one now: in order to use that particular armor, you either needed to be augmented to inhuman standards or a fix needed to be found. Of course, Steve and Greg couldn't just let a good design stay good, they had to make it better.

"Good timing too, because I think we're going to need them," I stated as I brought my mind back to our present situation. "Okay guys, here's where we are it's not good news, but it could be worse."

Everyone's attention was on me as I leaned back into my chair. "We arrived later than we shot for. All our preparations, while I'm sure will come in handy, don't mean as much now as they would have if we'd succeeded. Nonetheless, we recouped our losses and got back on our feet. Most importantly, we're all still here to complain about it.

"Faced with a time crunch, we tried a few desperate attempts to reach out. Wrex helped, but I think that has more to do with that he's been around for over a thousand years, and not much surprises him anymore. Liara was almost a wash and I think Anderson is out."

Steve leaned forward. "Big dogs' out?"

"Yeah, that's my guess," I admitted. "It's been three days and nothing. But can we blame him for not buying into this? He doesn't know us, and the things I told him weren't of the 'easy to believe' variety."

"How much did you tell him?" Sharee asked.

"Not everything, like what we are or where we came from. Other stuff, like what we're trying to do, and the things that are likely to be coming down the pipe, yeah."

Paige nodded. "So, where does that leave us?"

"Right now? We need to do two things: free Sebastian and steal the _Normandy_. We can't fight the war that is coming from the _Exiled_ , we all know this. We need the _Normandy_. Once we have her, we can start working on gathering what we need to convert the SR-3 plans to upgrade the _Normandy_ into a heavier version."

With a serious look on his face, Greg nodded. "Yeah, from what Shepard told me, the SR-2 had a huge power core. Way bigger than the ship ever needed. A few upgrades to that, and we'd have enough power to do everything we need. She'll make the _Exiled_ look like a trolley car."

"Right, but that brings us to the problem. We don't know where either of them are. Add to that, I think we're going to have the same problem with every one of Sebastian's friends we approach that I had with Anderson. Liara was in the know, and as I said, Wrex was either unsurprised, or he might have just decided to throw his dice at our feet in hopes that we're on the level. He's crafty enough, and he didn't really invest much into us. Nothing he couldn't get back if he decided to come after us. The others: Kaidan, Garrus, Joker, Chakwas, Tali, or Adams, I don't see them coming on board without something substantial to entice them. Meaning Sebastian himself.

"So, that leaves just us. The galaxy is too big a place for Dinah to use her power to narrow things down without more information. Even with Atlas running amok on the extranet, we're not likely to succeed in time. Worse, I think we tipped our hand too much with Anderson, which cuts down the time frame even more."

Dinah's voice broke the momentary silence of my statement. "Seventy three point six five four one he doesn't believe you, but he's concerned about increased Cerberus activity. Sixty five four eight nine zero he's contacted someone high up in the Alliance and started his own investigation. If so, sixty eight two one nine eight Cerberus will find out the Alliance has an increased interest in them. Eighty seven nine zero two nine we have less than a week to get both before we lose our shot."

"Motherfucker," Steve muttered, pretty much summing up the situation. "Okay, so how do we fix this?"

"By getting the one thing we desperately need: information," I answered. "Easiest way to do it, keeping in mind its not going to be _easy_ at all, is to own the information back channels, like we did on Earth Bet. In short, we need a Tattletale."

"What do you have in mind?" Sharee asked me. "Or, who I guess. You wouldn't have laid this all on us if you didn't have an idea, even if you don't like it."

"I don't. Like it, I mean," I answered. "We're going to have to move fast, and we're going to have to strike _hard_. If we're fast enough, we can beat the odds and save Sebastian before he wakes up under the Illusive Man's thumb. If not, we might still be able to salvage something from this mess. Assuming we can pull this off."

"So, we're doin' this like the Columbian Job?" Steve asked, a slight smirk on his face.

I nodded, smirking as well. "Only with more explosions. Considering who we're hitting, preferably lots and lots of explosions."

"We didn't exactly short change them last time, you know?" Steve pointed out good-naturedly. "If I remember right, people saw that shit going down from miles away."

"I think I can help with that." Greg added. "I've been working on a few things, ideas I held back until we figured out the T-5 issues. Give me a day, and you'll have your boom."

"Man, you know I'm in. Where to, boss?" Steve asked.

Everyone else nodded. Even our two newest, though I'm sure they didn't understand as much as they would have liked. "Back to Illium," I answered, "to pick up our new Tattletale."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Once the boarding ramp started raising, I turned to the woman standing next to me. "Welcome aboard the _Exiled_ , Liara."

The asari looked at me, clearly thinking. Probably about the change in my attitude. "Thank you, Allison."

"Taylor," I corrected before screwing up my courage. "My actual name is Taylor Hebert. Also, I'm… sorry about my attitude, last time we talked. It's no excuse, but things hadn't been going our way and it took a friend to remind me that I was being unfair to you for things that were not your fault. So, I'm sorry for that."

"Apology accepted, though not necessary."

Despite her words, I noticed the slight thawing on her face. I smiled slightly as I lead her to a workstation she could use to access the extranet. "Everything I know about the Shadow Broker is up and ready for you. He's hiding in a gas giant. The ship he's doing it in was specifically designed to cut down any chance he'd be accidentally discovered. Probably even tried to delete all references to its construction, but data cannot be completely erased short of taking out the entire galactic grid. Atlas found enough pieces that should help you finish narrowing down his location."

"Impressive. Will I be meeting with this 'Atlas'? I'd like to know how he managed to come up with the details he found. There may be links in the data that would help."

"Sure," I answered as I indicated the workstation. Atlas's avatar appeared next to it.

"Dr. T'soni, I am Atlas. Matriarch has cleared you for Level Five Officers Clearance. How may I assist you?"

"An AI?" Liara asked as she turned to me in surprise. "And dare I ask who 'Matriarch' is since I am not nearly old enough to be considered as such?"

I couldn't help it, I snickered. "I'm Matriarch, or rather, that's my cape name. A… field handle, if you will. Atlas never calls me Taylor, no matter how many times I've asked him too. Thought about changing my cape name, considering the new environment we're in, but I've been using it for years. Anything else is just going to be weird. As to the AI thing, yeah, we expect to get that reaction a lot, but Atlas is good people. He's not very familiar with the galactic extranet, but he learns fast."

"I see." It was clear as she settled herself at the terminal that she really didn't. Not that I could see how she could have. "How about you explain some of the strangeness away while we go through the data?"

"Sure: you want the truth or the believable version?" I asked as I took the chair next to her.

"The truth," Liara answered promptly. "I've spent my life in pursuit of the truth, no matter how hard to believe it was."

"Alright," I said as I held up my hand. Liara's eyes widened when the small swarm of flyers left my hair and started forming patterns over my palm. "I'm what my people call a parahuman. My power affects mostly arthropods, though I have learned that I can mentally control anything with a simple brain. In my original dimension parahumans were fairly common, though powers differed from person to person. Somehow, Sebastian found himself on my world. Near as he could tell, it was right after the end of the Reaper War.

"We met there, on my world, just as I was starting my cape career. That's what we called ourselves, capes. We grew very close in the months we were teamed up, until he died during a fight with the Endbringer, Leviathan. It... wasn't something I was ever able to let go of, the way he died, that he died at all. That's why I'm here. I have travelled across dimensions and time to help him, like he helped us. Right now, that means freeing him from Cerberus since that was one of the things he told me he regretted in his past. My team came with me, each of them for their own reasons, but all of us knew Sebastian and volunteered to come."

"Dimensions and time?" Liara muttered disbelievingly. "Goddess, tell me you realize how impossible that sounds?"

My smile at her discomfort widened, which I'm sure did nothing for her question of my sanity. "I know, right? All I can tell you is, tinkertech shenanigans. When you have a tinker on the roster, you stop thinking things are impossible and just accept they break the rules on a whim. We spent a year preparing to crossover, but our tech didn't hold up and we arrived badly. Which brings us to here."

"I don't suppose you have any proof of what you say?" Liara asked. "Surely you can't expect anyone to believe such a tale without some kind of evidence."

"One of the things Sebastian demanded we always do is record every mission we undertook. So we could learn from past mistakes, see the things we might not have seen, or to view events from a teammate's perspective. At first, our omni tools did that, but we upgraded to helmet cams when we finished our body armors. Atlas can show them to you. Just let me know when you're done." I stated as I got up, walking away.

"You're not going to watch them with me? I might have questions."

I swallowed thickly as I answered her, not turning around. "I haven't watched any of them in a long time, Liara. My memories are painful enough to live with. Atlas can answer your questions, or one of the others. Let me know when you're done."

 *****Authors Note**

I've decided to keep my reminders to Review at the head of each arc. Heh, yeah, some people don't like it when authors ask for them, but I would like to point out, I and my fellow authors are doing this gratis, meaning for free, as in we make absolutely no money from doing this. All our free time spent making each chapter enjoyable? All our efforts to build the story, develop characters, and then express that to you, our readers? Yeah, its a huge investment that does not pay bills. That said, If you are enjoying the products of our labors, be kind, please let me know what you think of the story, its content, or even to just let me know you are enjoying it. Thank you.


	9. A Villian in Need 2

**A Villain in Need Story Arc: 2.2**

The table Greg stood next to was specifically designed with a combination of mass effect technology and tinker craft. Robotic arms with various attachments around three fourths of it, with Greg occupying the open section. A dozen arms moved in concert to directions the two watchers could only guess at while Greg scanned, altered, or rebuilt sections of the armor he was working on. Cessi and Lia watched him work, neither understanding the haphazard way he went about it. Nor did they understand his mumblings as he seemingly asked himself questions, and then answered them.

"So," Lia broke the silence between them. "They're crazy."

Cessi nodded slowly in agreement. "It would seem so."

"Okay. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one who thought so."

"No. Will you seek another way to complete your pilgrimage?" Cessi asked.

"I never said I was leaving. Crazy or not, they've treated me better than anyone else has since I started. You?"

"The same, though I owe them a hefty debt, even if Captain Taylor has told me I do not. I would like to see it paid before I part ways with them." Cessi leaned close to her fleet sister, lowering her voice, though it did not disguise the excitement it carried. "Besides, do you know what this reminds me of?"

Lia giggled, nodding. "The stories of Tali'Zorah vas Neema?"

"Yes! The Xaafis was given access to some of the research data she gifted Captain Kar'Danna vas Neema, but it was the _stories_ of how she got it that was talked about the most. It's like we're following in her footsteps! Being taken on as crew of a human ship, impossible missions and adventure. Did you hear the one where she stormed the Geth base with only her Captain and slaughtered a whole platoon of Geth with nothing more than a _shotgun_?"

Lia nodded eagerly. "Yes, and I heard she still uses that shotgun! My favorite one was when Tali'Zorah saved that colony of human biotics that fell under tyranny. I heard she hacked the door to get her team in before sneaking in and fought that maniac one on one while her team helped the others to escape."

"Oh, that was a good one. I heard that one just before I left for my Pilgrimage," Cessi agreed as she turned back to Greg, who was still mumbling to himself and working on the armor in front of him. "I wonder if her crew was as crazy as ours. Maybe it's a human thing?"

"I don't know. My instructor didn't give me a lot of information on humans. I was only told that they carry a lot of diseases, and if I ever found myself on one of their ships, to always make sure my air filter was fresh. I stayed in a shelter run by turians when I was on the Citadel. Not many humans around there, and even less who were willing to talk to me. I heard that her Captain was considered to be a warrior without equal but very crazy and very ruthless to his enemies though."

"He was."

Both girls jumped, spinning around finding Steve behind them. A smirk on his face at their reaction. "Shepard. He was ruthless and crazy. He was also one of my friends."

"Oh! Um, we…"

"…didn't mean any disrespect to Captain Shepard, Commander."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Man, you guys and your formalities. I'm not military; you guys know that right?"

Both quarians started at him, silently. It was broken by Greg who cursed, shaking his hand as if he burnt it slightly. Not that it stopped him from working.

Steve shook his head, chuckling at his friends antics and taking note of the visor he was wearing. "You got this, Atlas?"

"Yes, I am monitoring Leet. Should he sustain any serious injuries, I will stun him and report it immediately."

"Awesome," Steve said, turning back to the two girls next to him. "I bet you guys have questions."

"Many," Cessi returned.

Lia nodded. "We didn't wish to interfere in Captain Taylor's meeting earlier, but if it is permissible to know what is going on, I would like to know."

"Sure. Taylor figured you guys wouldn't ask, so she sent me to bring you in the loop. Whether you guys believe us or not, it's the truth. Taylor wanted you to know that if you decide our level of crazy isn't for you, we'll drop you off anywhere you want, no hard feelings. If you decide to stay, keep in mind the crazy is only going to get worse."

The quarians looked at each other, then turned back to Steve, nodding. "If we stay, will we be expected to fight? We're not very good."

"Up to you," Steve answered as he lead them into their common room. "We're not big on rules and stuff, but everyone pulls their own share here, and you decide your own level of involvement. Sharee and Paige don't fight, but they do other stuff. Dinah isn't rated for front lines, but Taylor's working with her to bring up her skills. Right now, helping with engineering projects and keeping the _Exiled_ together is more than enough. Anything more than that is up to you."

"I would like a bit more weapons training, I only received basic knowledge in pistol use for self defense," Lia said.

"Not a problem."

Unable to resist, Cessi asked, "Did you really know Tali'Zorah vas Neema's Pilgrimage Captain? Did you ever meet Tali'Zorah?"

Steve turned to find both quarian's staring at him, clearly eager for details. He looked around, making sure Taylor wasn't around. "Uh, yeah, I knew Shepard. Not sure about the 'vas Neema' part, but he told us a few things about a Tali. But we should probably talk about that later, alright? How about we answer some of the other stuff first?"

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Liara leaned back. The image frozen on the vid screen holding all her attention. A young man, human and in his late teens if she was any judge of the species, sat on a crate. He was armored in a prototype body armor she recognized from keeping tabs on such things over the years. It was only just granted production clearance here, but in the vid, there existed a full working model, and if the damage on it was any indication, was more than field worthy. The helmet of which rested next to him. In his hands, an anti-material rifle the likes Liara had never seen before. The frozen image showed him laughing, the girl with him was obviously Taylor, also armored sans helmet, but this image must have been taken a few years ago judging by the how much younger she looked. She laughed freely as well, no signs at all of the hard edge Taylor's face wore now.

The reason for their laughter, was the third person in the frozen image. Greg, she thought he introduced himself as. He was in the process of leaping away from what looked like a small shelled creature. A quick extranet search revealed it to be a decapod crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura. Or 'crab', a shellfish commonly found in Earth's oceans. Why he was scared of the little creature, Liara didn't know, but it was obviously amusing to the other two.

She dissected the vid, frame by frame looking for flaws that would indicate it was some kind of forgery, and found nothing. In every way she could determine, and Liara knew _a lot_ of ways to check information, it was legit. Which brought her back to the image of the laughing young man.

There was no doubt to Liara, it was him. Shepard. He was ten years younger than he should have been, but there was no doubt in her mind. The way he talked, the way he moved or held that rifle, those were tells that couldn't be faked. She spent almost seven months with the Commander, fighting beside him as they waged war against Saren and his geth. She even joined her mind to his, to help him understand the Prothean Cypher. If anyone knew how to identify Shepard, no matter what face he wore, she did.

But it was his eyes that gave it away the most. Shepard had a way of looking at someone that made them feel that they could do the impossible. Never before had she experienced such a focused gaze that made her feel she could do anything, until she met the human. Not even the matriarchs she associated with before her falling out with her mother had such an inspiring presence, or a way with people that Shepard did. No, there was no doubts that young man was Shepard.

Nor was there any doubts that this footage came from some alternate reality. The events she saw, humans displaying abilities that bordered on the miraculous, and the environment was obviously too foreign to be any place in this universe. Old Earth for sure, but altered by the existence of what Taylor had called 'parahumans'.

"Goddess," Liara muttered to herself as she fully realized the implications of what Taylor showed her.

"Pretty weird, right?"

Liara turned sharply, seeing the young woman next to her. Long brown hair tied mid way and a dragonfly hair clip keeping it free from her face. "Excuse me?"

"I said, it's pretty weird. Us, I mean, who we are and where we come from. It has to be pretty weird to you."

"Yes, that would be one way to describe it," Liara agreed. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember your name. You're the young woman who accompanied Taylor to see me the first time, the one who revealed Nyxeris to be a traitor. Vates, yes?"

"Dinah," the young woman answered, "Dinah Alcott. Vates is my cape name, but yeah, that was me. I'm a parahuman too. All of us are except for Alex and Miguel. Well, and I guess Cessi and Lia, but we picked them up after we got here."

"And do you control things too? Like Taylor?"

"No, I'm not a master class cape. Thinker."

"I'm sorry?"

Dinah smiled impishly. "Capes are categorized based on powers. Taylor's a master class cape, meaning she can control things. So is Paige. Me, I'm a thinker class cape, meaning my power operates through information. Specifically, I can see the probability of what action will be taken. Dark energy interferes with my ability, so I'm actually pretty limited on what I can do with my power here, but I'm figuring out work arounds so I'm not worried."

"You can see the future?" Liara clarified, clearly skeptical of what she was told.

"I can see _possible_ futures, sometimes, but not often and not without hurting myself. Sometimes it happens when I'm sleeping, but not often anymore. It works best if I just work with numbers."

"I see. Can you demonstrate for me?"

"Sure."

Liara turned the terminal, bringing up one of her projects. "I was contracted to find out if this person had ties to the Eclipse. A mercenary band that operates extensively in the Terminus Systems. My employer wished to know if he had ties, or was an active member. What can you tell me?"

Dinah looked at the image of the lizard like figure. Large dark eyes, two little horn like things coming out of the back of his head and a wide mouth dominated by a slightly orange skin tone. "I've only just started looking into the main galactic races. He's a salarian right?"

"He is."

"Okay. Thirty six point four five three nine, he works for Eclipse as a member. Eighty eight point six one zero zero, he supports them. Ninety five point three three three one, he is doing so because he is being blackmailed," Dinah answered.

"That is incredible: he is being blackmailed. Your, power you called it? It just told you that?"

Dinah nodded. "Yeah, that's how it works. I have a question and my power gives me numbers to answer it. The more information I have the better it works, but not always. It also depends on how I shape the question. I get things wrong sometimes, or people are just too unpredictable for my power to quantify. Like Taylor. I know her really well, but not even that helps me predict what she'll do in a given situation. Once, I had her pegged with a ninety five percent chance of doing something, and she did the exact opposite. As for this guy, blackmailing people was something we did a lot back on Earth Bet, to keep the peace in Brockton Bay. That the percentage was so low for him working for Eclipse clued me in that since he was supporting them, he might be doing so unwillingly. My power confirmed it."

"Fascinating. I'm envious of you, to have access to such an ability. It took me a month to find out Kirlian was being blackmailed, and it took you only seconds."

"Yeah, Taylor doesn't like me using my power though."

"Why is that? Even limited as you claim, the advantages are astounding."

Dinah shrugged. "Too easy to rely on it, she says, but I think it's because of our history. Taylor and Shepard saved me when I was younger. I was only eleven when they found me and if not for them, I'd have been the plaything of one of the local villains who wanted me for a pet. I think part of her still see's me as that little girl, even though I'm the same age as she was when she took over Brockton Bay."

"Pardon? I don't believe I understand that. Wasn't Brockton Bay the city you lived in?"

"Yeah. Taylor took over the local underworld as a way to help keep me safe from people who wanted to use me. Even after we lost Shepard, she was always there when I needed her. That's why I'm here, you know? I owe everything to Taylor and Shepard. Besides, miss a chance to jump into the future? No way," Dinah finished, smirking.

Liara smiled at her enthusiasm. "I can't say I wouldn't have done the same, but surely you realize how dangerous this venture is? Looking at the recordings Taylor has allowed me to access, I know many of you are no strangers to combat, but our situation is vastly different. To be blunt, the things you have faced before pale in comparison to what awaits you in the Traverse. Not to mention the Terminus."

Instead of looking worried, Dinah laughed. "You haven't seen some of our gear, have you?"

"No, but even the best weapons and armor are not any kind of guarantee of success."

"True, but if we can get Shepard back, that will be," Dinah pointed out. "Taylor's every bit as good as Shepard, but _together?_ I am so looking forward to seeing them stomping on someone together again, you have no idea."

Liara smiled, nodding in agreement about Shepard, though she had reservations about anyone being as good as the Spectre. "I take it that is why Taylor had a change of heart over my war with the Shadow Broker. She wants to use his network to find him."

"Yeah. Taylor says you're good at finding stuff, but I thought maybe I could help you narrow things down quicker."

"Please," Liara said, bringing up her search results. "I have narrowed things down to five systems that are off the 'beaten path', I believe the human expression is."

"Can you show me what you know about his ship? The more information I have, the better my power works."

Liara brought up the information letting Dinah get a look at it as she explained. "From what Taylor stated, he specifically designed his ship to survive incredible pressures, electrical discharges, high winds, and other hazards commonly found on gas giants. With the right shielding tech, he could remain hidden indefinitely from passive, or even intensive scanning equipment, using the environment to his advantage."

"Thirty eight point five two six nine, it's a gas giant." Dinah reported.

"Really? Taylor seemed quite certain."

Dinah shook her head. "My power disagrees enough that I think we need to look at other places. If I was trying to hide my lair, I'd have leaked information that had people looking left, while I hid right. Are there any other planets in these systems with weird weather? Like a really big storm or something?"

Turning to the terminal, Liara nodded as her fingers danced across the interface. "A good point. Let's see, there are two systems that meet both requirements."

Dinah pointed at the left one. "Seventy six point three two one eight, this is it."

Liara turned to the screen, and the system Dinah was pointing at. "Hourglass nebula, Sowilo system. Well off the beaten path for sure. Not a relay system. There is one planet in that system that meets our requirements."

Dinah nodded. "Eighty two three five nine nine, it's Hagalaz."

"Indeed. No activity since mid two thousand when the mining industry moved to more hospitable planets to mine for resources. With a rotation period of ninety eight hours, the planet would have exceptionally long day night cycles. Severe baking heat, combined with long frigid cold nights creating a planetary storm front that never ends, always flowing on the borders of those events. I wonder how such a place was ever was labeled a 'garden world'?"

"No kidding. Sounds like a really shitty place to live, but a great place to hide a Lair if you never wanted to be found."

Liara smiled, amused by the intuitive girl next to her. "Indeed. Have you ever thought about going into the Information brokerage business?"

"I used to run one, back on Bet," Dinah smiled back. "But so you know, you couldn't afford me."

"I think you underestimate the amount of credits I can move, for the right bit of information."

Dinah tilted her head. "Back home, I charged a hundred thousand."

"Truely? For each situation resolved? Impressive."

"No, for each question," Dinah clarified, a big smile on her face. "You would be amazed how many people were willing to shell out that much for so little too. After only a few years, I was the richest teen on the planet, if you count money earned myself legitimately, and not old money or through villainy. But make no mistake, I made a killing with villainy."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

"Oh, what's this?" Paige asked Sharee as she walked up to the stove.

Sharee swatted her hand as she reached for one of covered pots. "Don't touch, it's for Cessi and Lia. It's kind of like a stew, I think. I thought they could use something decent to eat, instead of those nutrient paste things they keep insisting on."

"That's nice of you," Paige playfully snarked, holding her stinging hand as she backed away from the stove. "but I just have one question. Well, two actually. First, is it safe for them to eat, you know, since it's being made in the open like this? If it is, how are they going to eat it? I thought they couldn't take off their helmets."

Instead of answering, Sharee turned sharply away from Paige to the living room. "Alex!"

Paige turned to see the little tyke standing next to where Urz was laying down, holding onto the saber-like fang that rose from his lower jaw, looking at his panic stricken mother. Sharee shook her head. "Please don't do that. I don't want Urz to eat you!"

Paige snorted as Alex smiled, laying down wrapping his arms around the varren's neck. "Fishdoggy!"

Completely against Sharee's fears, Urz merely nuzzled their resident four year old, before laying back down on his side, making little Alex smile bigger. Sharee wasn't confronted at all by the gesture, considering the size to the two fangs rising out of the animals mouth, and how close they came to her son. Paige turned to Sharee. "I really don't think you have to worry about Urz. He seems to be perfectly fine with Alex. Personally, I think he thinks Alex is a pup or something."

"Have you read the information on varren?" Sharee asked, still looking a bit frazzled as she turned back to her cooking, keeping one eye on her son the entire time. It was then Paige noticed the pistol holstered under her arm. "They eat anything and everything! I really wish Taylor talked to us before she took him in."

"Oh, come on. Look at them!" Paige argued, turning to the two on the floor. Urz continued laying passively on the ground, while Alex climbed on him, eventually sitting on his side as if he was chair. "Despite what you might think, I did read up on them. They're pack animals, very loyal and very protective of those in the pack."

"Which is the only reason why I'm letting Alex around him. Just the same, I'm keeping my pistol on me, and my eyes on _it_."

Paige rolled her own eyes. "Fine, be a mother hen, but I'm telling you, I don't think Urz would hurt a fly. I think that's probably why the krogan didn't want him, he has a gentle soul."

Sharee looked up from the pot she was stirring, to the cape standing next to her. "You do remember that according to Greg, Ratch said Urz used to be a pit fighting champion, right? Tell me how an animal, trained to kill other animals and _krogan_ , has a gentle soul?"

"Please," Paige scoffed. "Look at him, hes a big softy now. All he's done since Taylor brought him on board is walk around and nap. He's never so much as growled at anyone one, not even Miguel when he cursed at him and threatened to shoot him for 'supposedly' eating one of his boots."

"Urz did eat his boot," Sharee argued. "Miguel searched the whole ship, and it's not like there are a lot of places to lose something."

Paige raised an eyebrow, challengingly. "So he claims, but I still think he lost it and blamed poor Urz. Nothing else has come up missing."

Sharee shook her head, changing topics as she checked the recipe on the small vid screen next to her, stirring the pot once again. "To answer your earlier questions, yes, this is perfectly safe for them. Once I'm done, I can seal them into meal canisters and run them through a sanitizer I bought on the Citadel that was specifically designed for quarians. They may not be able to take off their helmets, but they do have special food intake tubes so they can eat. Quarians do have teeth, and according to internet research, on the flotilla they make meals like this for themselves. Granted I don't think their usual is like this though, I found the recipe online, submitted by a quarian who worked for a time with a chef on Elysium."

"That's cool. Is this a special occasion? Like, is it a holiday for them or something? A birthday?" Paige's smile widened, "Will there be cake?"

"No, there won't be cake, not that you could eat one I made for them anyways. I just think everyone deserves a well cooked meal, and better I cook it than any of you guys. Your idea of cooking is to microwave something."

"Well, it was until Steve broke it," Paige agreed. "Speaking of microwavable food, did you hear about Steve's new culinary interest?"

"Let's pretend you didn't bring that up," Sharee muttered. "I had to kick him out of my kitchen once already, and I'm not taste testing anything he makes. I barely trust the equipment he makes with Greg."

Paige smiled widely. "He seems very determined to make it happen."

"Personally, I think the fact that the 'Hot Pocket' didn't survive into the future says something about it. What it says is pretty obvious." Sharee looked around the room. Satisfied no one was very close to hear her, she leaned a bit toward Paige. "How do you think things are going?"

"I'm sure your power knows more about how things are going than I do," Paige pointed out.

"Yes, but I asked her not to spy on friends. You don't want to know the kinds of things she found when we were on the Citadel. I swear, I have to be the only cape, ever, that not only has a power that thinks for herself, but has one with voyeuristic tendencies."

Paige's eyes widened as she put the pieces together. "Okay, _now_ I'm curious, but to answer your question, I think things are going about as well as they can be, considering. Liara seems nice, a bit closed off for my tastes, but nice. At least she and Taylor are getting along now."

Sharee nodded, looking a worried as she lowered the heat on the stew. "So, they're going to be fighting again."

"Unless we can come up with a way to make the Shadow Broker hand over his empire nicely, probably. I overheard Taylor asking Atlas to unseal the heavy weapons earlier, so it's a safe bet she thinks there's going to be a fight."

"I love Taylor, I really do, but she _always_ expects a fight," Share muttered, looking guilty for the admission. Paige silently nodded along, agreeing. They talked about it before. "Do you know who's on the roster this time?"

Paige replied, "Taylor's a given. Steve and Greg for sure. Maybe Miguel if Greg finishes his armor in time. Taylor doesn't want to trust the old ones until we do some weapon tests using modern versions. Pretty safe bet Liara's going. Something about this thing makes me wonder if there isn't something personal with her fight against this guy."

"Oh."

Paige tilted her head, pieces of a puzzle she didn't even know was there, starting to form a picture that made her smirk knowingly at the slightly downcast look on Sharee's face.

The slight blush across her cheeks when Sharee noticed, only confirmed Paige's suspicions. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Maybe I find you attractive?" Paige needled.

"No means no, you incorrigible pervert," Sharee returned playfully.

Paige winked, enjoying the effect it had on the flustered woman. "One person's perversion is another's preferences. Besides, love is good no matter where you find it and I don't see a reason why it should be limited by gender. It also shouldn't be denied. Lets see, Taylor's out, obviously. I doubt you would have such a look over Steve or Greg, neither are really your flavor of beefcake. So that leaves…"

"Shush!" a panicked Sharee urged. "Don't."

Paige shrugged, her point made. Still smirking at the red faced woman, she turned away. Sharee focused on the pots, stirring the contents a bit more vigorously than was necessary.

Her turning allowed her to notice Alex was missing. A quick look didn't show him in the room, unless he was playing hide and seek again. Before she could decide to go look for the adventurous toddler, Urz walked back into the room, the straps of Alex's overall's in his teeth as he brought the wandering tyke back. Suspended, Alex swayed happily at the new game. Urz gently let him go where he was playing before, then settled himself back down.

Deciding to avert a shooting, Paige turned back to Sharee, who thankfully was too focused on the pots to have noticed. "Have you told him?"

"He's not interested."

"So, you _did_ talk to him?"

"No, but I know he wouldn't be interested in me."

Paige blinked. "How do you figure that if you haven't even talked to him about it? I know he's not seeing Taylor, and I can assure you, he's not seeing me. Pretty sure I'd remember hooking up with a hard body like Miguel's. Options are pretty limited unless you think he's trying to crowd in on Greg's little quarian girlfriends. In which case, you're being super cool about it." Paige indicated the carefully prepared stew Sharee was standing in front of, to make her point.

"Just drop it, Paige," Sharee sighed.

"Miguel!" Alex squealed bringing their attention to the living room.

Standing at the door, shirtless Paige noticed, and obviously just finished with his daily workout, was man they were just discussing. He knelt on the floor holding his arms out, shouting back in an overplayed deep voice, " _Hijo!_ "

Laughing Alex ran as fast as he could, leaping at the muscular man. Paige turned slightly seeing the warm smile on Sharee's face at the pair, and the longing. Paige turned back hearing Alex's squeal as Miguel picked him up, sitting him in his arm as if Alex didn't weigh anything.

"So, you being good for your _madre_?"

Alex nodded. "I play hide and seek with Urz!"

"Truly?" Miguel asked with all the seriousness he could muster. "I bet he's a good seeker."

Alex nodded. "He always finds me and brings me back so we can play again."

Miguel nodded as well. "A good challenge. Let's make sure you remember the rules. Where are you not allowed to play?

"In any of the rooms except this one. I can play in the cargo room, but only if Mommy says I can."

Miguel poked Alex in the stomach, making him giggle. "That's right, and the cargo hold is off limits right now because Uncle Greg is working, so you need to stay in here. Alright, _hijo_?"

"Okay. Will you play one of my games with me?"

"Sure. Let's go find one."

Paige turned away from the scene, looking at Sharee who was still watching the pair fondly. "Obviously he doesn't like you at all, what with the way he is with Alex."

Sharee's blush deepened as she refused to meet Paige's eyes. "Shut up."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

"How long?" I asked.

Sitting in the pilot's chair, Steve answered. "Thirteen hours, maybe fifteen."

"Okay. How'd it go with Cessi and Lia?"

"If they thought we were nuts before, they know it now," Steve replied cheerfully. "But they're still in."

I shook my head, smiling. "I'll take what I can get. Any issues I should know about?"

"Naw, they're good. After we kill this guy and all his dudes, I think we should see if they can make any heads or tales from some of our 'to be researched' tech. Bring in a fresh pair of eyes and stuff. I swear, Cessi's better at programing things than I am, and my power makes me pretty damn good. Lia's modest as hell, but she has a way of looking at things that I think might help. We might be able to prove out some of the good stuff we made, or that is in need of repair."

"Sounds good, so long as we don't need other stuff done first. If things go well here, we're going to be pushing on to the next objectives as quickly as we can. Downtime for that kind of thing can wait until after we have the Normandy and Sebastian."

"Right right. So, this Broker guy, what do we know about him?"

I sighed. "Not nearly as much as I'd like. Basically, nothing really. Safe bet his bodyguards are going to have the best weapons and armor around though, which is why I wanted Greg to work on the T-5s, assuming he can actually get them to work."

Steve chuckled. "Oh they work alright. He's got mine done already and I can't wait for a chance to test it out. If this schmuck has the kind of firepower you think he does, I think we're going to put them through their paces."

I chuckled along. "We'll see. I'm going to make sure everything's ready and help Liara pick a few things out from our inventory. If she has any remaining doubts about our origins, I think our armaments should change that. Do you need anything serviced?"

"Naw, I get my gear squared away in a few hours, once we're through the relays. Are you going to show her the plasma weapons? Please tell me you're going to show her the plasma weapons, I've been dying to use them since we made them."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'll show her that one, though I doubt she's going to want to use a weapon that turns people into glowing green piles of goo, no matter how 'cool' you think it is."

"Hey, don't hate the goo, man. That tech rocked. Besides, turn a guy into goo, and his buddies going to be seriously start thinking about looking for another type of work."

"That," I argued good-naturedly, just to rile him up, "or they're going to try harder to kill us for it."

"Pfft, they're welcome to try. If fucking Earth Bet couldn't kill us, I don't see these mooks doing it."

I laughed, half agreeing with him. "Alright, I'm going to make sure our party favors are ready to go then. It's bad enough we're going to kick this guy out of his own party, but I don't see any reason we should be inconsiderate guests while doing so."

"Oh man, you have no idea how awesome it is to have you back," Steve said, smirking as he turned to look at me. "This guy is going to have no clue what the fuck hit him."


	10. A Villian in Need 3

**A Villain in Need Story Arc: 2.3**

Her finger hovered over the interface, hesitant to trigger the flatline. Liara sighed, it wasn't the risk of the transmission being intercepted that caused her uncertainty, it was the person who was on the other end. There was a time when they fought side by side, seen each other at the lowest points in their lives, staunched each others wounds, and most importantly, trusted each other completely. But that was two years ago. Incidentally, that was about the last time they had spoken to each other. Liara looked through the viewport, seeing the relay slowly approaching. It would be too risky to make this call after they jumped, surely the Shadow Broker would have found some way to monitor the buoys on the other side. If she was going to do this, it had to be now.

The vid screen flickered as the channel opened. Liara smiled softly as she took in the profile of the man on the screen. He was half facing away, a data pad in his hand. The readout of his visor obscuring his blue eye until he turned to face her.

"Hello, Garrus."

"Liara, I was getting worried. Especially after the message you sent about needing to talk. What's wrong?"

"Why does something have to be wrong? Maybe I just wanted a chance to talk to an old friend."

Garrus's mandibles flexed, showing his disbelief at her words. "Yeah, I know I'm a hypocrite for saying it, but you haven't so much as sent me an extranet message in two years. Then you message me about needing to talk on a secure line. You know, I might not have been a great C-Sec cop, but I wasn't _that_ bad at my job."

Liara chuckled. "I've missed you, Garrus, and you weren't a bad cop. Just bad at following rules and the occasional order."

"True, though they were stupid rules anyway. As for the orders, I always followed the one's that made sense, though that's probably why I don't work for C-Sec anymore. Most of my superiors were far too worried about getting dirty, then doing what was _right_. So, what's going on that has you contacting your old friend after two years of avoiding each other? What's wrong?"

"Garrus…" Liara shook her head. "Oh very well. I need you to do something for me, in case what I'm about to do ends up going badly."

Garrus's eyes narrowed. "That doesn't sound good."

"It's dangerous," Liara confirmed, "but necessary. I can't say more, even over a secure line. If the worst should happen, I need to know someone knows about this, and can finish it. I know you're on Omega right now, but I was hoping you wouldn't mind taking a trip to Illium for a few days."

"It must be bad, if whoever you're hunting can break a secure line. What do you need?"

Typical Garrus. For all his gruff exterior, he was perfectly willing to jump to a friend's aid, even after two years' silence. Liara smiled gratefully. "I want to you go to my apartment on Illium. I've hidden something there, something only a _select few_ have any chance of finding. Hopefully this isn't necessary, but if you haven't heard from me after three days, I've likely failed."

Once again, Garrus's mandibles flexed. Liara had no doubts that he understood what 'failed' meant. "If this thing is that dangerous, why don't we meet in person? I have a good team that can help with, whatever this is you're doing."

She shook her head. "No time. I'm with… an interesting group who's invested in this. Right now we have the advantage of surprise, an advantage we surely won't have later. We're about to jump now, as a matter of fact. Once we do, I'll be Theta Dark until the end, assuming we succeed."

"Theta Dark…" Garrus sighed, head shaking as he leaned backward. Liara could tell using that particular phrase told him all he needed to know about what she was going to do. "I don't like the sound of this, Liara, but I'll do it."

"Thank you, Garrus. I know it's asking a lot…"

"No," he interrupted her, "it's not. Not for you. Just be careful, it sounds like you're going to do something recklessly stupid, just like we did back in the day. Personally, I'd rather spend a few days on Illium wasting my time waiting for you to tell me what is going on, than go looking for payback afterward. I… don't have a lot of people I call friend anymore, and I don't want to lose the one's I have left. So, be careful."

"As I can be, Garrus."

"Alright, I'll book passage on the next transport to Illium now. Should be there in a few hours."

"Garrus," Liara hesitated before she continued. "You be careful as well."

The turian's slow nod was all the confirmation Liara needed to know he understood her hint. "I will. See you when you get back."

The vid screen winked out, Liara leaned back into her chair letting out a cleansing breath. As she turned once more to the viewport and the approaching mass relay, she hoped it was unnecessary, but better safe than sorry. Instead of brooding over the uncertainties of the task ahead, Liara rose from her seat, heading deeper into the strange ship she found herself on.

Talking with Garrus brought back a lot of memories of better times. Memories she buried because they hurt too much, but they were still _good_ memories compared to her younger years. Growing up the daughter of a powerful Matriarch meant always having to be very careful of everything. While other asari her age were preparing to embrace their maiden years in a typical manner for her people, Liara was chose a different path, one that wouldn't disgrace her mother, but would get her out from under her thumb just the same. But, being an archaeologist was a lonely profession. That loneliness was never more apparent than when she found herself on the _Normandy_. There she discovered a kind of camaraderie that she'd never known before. Being on the Normandy with Tali, Ashley, Kaidan, Garrus, Shepard and even Wrex, was like belonging to a family. A real family.

And then it was gone.

She shook her head, casting off those thoughts. They were dangerous, and worse, distracting. Instead, after a quick talk with Steve in the cockpit, Liara walked into the room where he said she could find Taylor. Liara easily spotted the young human, sitting in a chair facing a wide view port. Her attention seemingly locked on the blackness of space, apparently lost in thought. Music, a song she never heard before, mellow, accompanying thought provoking lyrics, played within the room when the door opened at her approach.

Liara took the opportunity to study the woman in an unguarded state. Her eyes were unfocused, obviously thinking deeply about something. She didn't nod to the beat of the song, though Liara was sure she was aware of it. Her face was blank however, not giving Liara many clues to what she was thinking. She was more relaxed now than Liara had seen her yet, considering the task ahead, that was a good thing, as well as telling.

The music lowered slightly, riding tandem to Taylor's omni tool activating. " _Taylor?"_

"Yeah, Dinah?"

" _Would you brush my hair for me?"_

A slight smile formed on Taylor's face. "How you get your hair so tangled when it's three times straighter than mine, I'll never know."

"Please? _I just took a shower using the new conditioner Sharee got us on the Citadel. It sucks."_

"Alright, sit still." Taylor returned, chuckling.

" _Thanks!"_

Taylor's omni tool winked out but to Liara's surprise, Taylor didn't move. Instead, the music returned to the volume it was before while the woman remained sitting in the chair placidly. Even more to her surprise, Taylor didn't show any inclination she was going to assist the younger girl.

"I know I'm not pretty enough for you to be staring at me because you find me attractive, so was there something you needed, Liara?"

Liara jumped. "How did you know someone was standing here, much less me?"

"I know where everyone is within my range, which incidentally, is greater than the ship. Part of my power."

"Excuse me?" Liara asked wearily.

"I put a few small bugs on you." The young woman clarified, still not looking away from the view. "Non poisonous ones, and I do it to everyone. An ant is inside the tread of your shoe, a fly on your right shoulder blade, and one baby cockroach on the back of your left thigh. Over your clothes, of course, just so you know. I'm well aware most people don't think of insects the same way I do."

Liara turned and sure enough, she could see the small insect on her back. A quick check under her shoes showed another. "Amazing, so you don't just control them, but you also use them as a sort of living radar? Doesn't that get confusing?"

"Not to me," Taylor answered. "It was only after my powers first triggered that it was hard on me, but that didn't last longer than a week or two. Would you like a cup of tea? Sharee picked up an interesting blend on the Citadel,. Thessian, I think she said. Sort of minty, with a chocolate aftertaste. It's actually quite good."

"You have _Ulan_? One of my favorites, yes please."

Taylor turned away from the view as Liara took a seat opposite from her. As Liara settled herself she took a closer look around. The room was pretty small; according to Steve, it was originally meant to be a meeting room for planning heists, jobs, or retaliations on their old world. He also informed her they never really used it, preferring the common room and its more relaxed atmosphere. Instead, it ended up being a place where one of them would go when they needed a quiet moment to think. According to Steve, that meant the room pretty much belonged to Taylor, since she made the most use of it.

It wasn't much more than ten foot square, the sparse decorations telling how little the room was used. The expansive view port Taylor sat next to offered only one decoration to detract from the diamond studded vista. Liara recognized it from extranet research she conducted when she first came on board the _Normandy_. It was a bottle, and inside the bottle, was an ocean sailing ship from earth's past.

Liara pointed to it. "Do you collected model ships? Shepard had a similar one, once."

"No, not really my thing," Taylor chuckled. "It belongs to Dinah. A souvenir of her first capper when she was twelve. She came with us when we raided the lair of a villain named Saint. She stayed in the ship, of course, but Paige thought she'd like something to remember it anyways, and stole that from Saint for her. I didn't even know she still had it until I came in here and noticed it."

Movement caught Liara's eye, bringing her attention to the side of the room. There, a white teapot decorated in a bright blue design of a cottage next to a stream, whistled. Steam piped from the spout, before it was picked up by what looked like a small omni drone. What amazed Liara more, was when the drone steadily poured the contents into matching cups.

"Do you take cream or sugar with your tea?" Taylor asked. "Not that this blend needs it in my opinion, but I thought I'd ask since I'm not sure how the asari generally take their tea. I generally prefer mine straight, but we do have some if you would like."

"No thank you, straight is my preference as well. _Ulan_ really doesn't need sweeting."

Taylor nodded but didn't make any other movements. The drone with the teapot, returned it to its place, a small spark leapt from it, obviously turning down the heat of the hot plate. Two other drones floated toward them, a steaming cup of tea preceding the first, while the other headed toward Taylor. The programing sophistication for those maneuvers must have been incredible. After accepting the cup, she mentioned it to Taylor.

"I don't consider myself to be an engineer by any stretch, but VI programming is something I dabble in. Would you mind if I had a look at the programs you are using for these drones? I've never seen domestic VI's this refined before."

Taylor blinked in surprise. "I would, but these are not VI drones, they're mine."

"I'm afraid I don't follow."

Taylor set her cup to the side as one of the drones floated to her. Hands free, she grasp the drone causing the holographic sphere to vanish showing a smaller metal sphere instead. Taylor held it toward Liara, showing the small open port, and the dark spider inside.

"These are spider-driven drones. Each sphere has a host of sensors that monitor the spider inside. There's no VI in the mechanism, just my spider to control flight or the light mass effect fields the drones are capable of deploying. Right now, they're only capable of really minor tasks, mostly picking up things and moving them, like with the tea. They're actually really limited. These, and others like them, I mostly use to keep things organized. You might have noticed that Steve and Greg are… kinda slobs. They drive Sharee nuts since she's the exact opposite.

"Anyways, other than these, I have ten that are capable for repair work, but that's pretty limited as well. Still, it's saved us hours, essentially allowing me to be in several places at once."

Liara leaned back into the chair, stunned at the explanation. The drone in Taylor's hand resealed, then floated away as Liara gathered her thoughts. "By the Goddess, how many could you control like that?"

Taylor shrugged. "I've never found a limit in how many insects I can control. My power allows me to control the swarm enmass, or each insect individually. The most I've ever controled was well into the trillions of insects, and I never felt any lag between giving them directions, to them doing what I want. Insect drones, like these three here, are no more complicated for me to control than just the bugs themselves."

"You can control _trillions_ of insects!?"

Taylor nodded absently. "Well, yeah. As I said, I've never found a limit to how many I can control. I usually don't control so many, unless we're fighting. Most people get weirded out seeing me use my bugs, and I get it, you know? To a lot of people, bugs are creepy, but to me, they're just an extension of me.

"Dinah's always been pretty cool about my bugs, and the others understand that it's my thing, but other than Dinah, they generally prefer it if I keep the obvious population down. Hence why I use the drones instead of actual insects. It's just to make things easier on Sharee or to help with our engineering projects. I prefer insects instead of VI's when I can, since my power allows me micromanaging options VI's can't give me."

"I see," Liara muttered into her cup as she tried to process that. "When I entered, I overheard Dinah asking you for help, I assuming you're using one of these drones to do that then?"

"Um, no." Taylor answered, looking confused. "Why would I use a drone to brush Dinah's hair? They're capable of a lot of things, but something that fine, no, and I doubt Dinah would thank me if I tried it and ended up ripping her hair out."

"I'm sorry, but now I'm confused." Liara admitted.

Instead of answering, Taylor sat still, taking a long drink from her cup. However, when Liara looked to the movement in Taylor's hair, she realized Taylor didn't need to verbally respond.

Dozens of spiders moved in concert as they shifted through the young women's locks. Strand by strand, Taylor's hair was shifted by the spiders within it, until it was as perfectly straight as it could get considering her natural curl. Even as Liara watched in amazement, those same spiders began weaving it all into a thick, tight braid until it was tied off with silk. Not a single strand of hair was out of place.

Liara's stunned eyes looked back into Taylors amused ones. "Goddess, and Dinah let's you do that?"

"Yeah," Taylor answered, an amused lit to her voice. "I'm doing it right now, though I'm only about half way done untangling her hair. At the moment, Dinah's sitting in the common room talking to Sharee, who's trying really hard not to look at what my spiders are doing. Greg walked in a minute ago, saw my spiders working, and immediately walked away. Not that I blame him, mind you, since there was a time when I attacked Greg with spiders. He's usually pretty cool with them, but he's been on the other side of my power before, so he gets queasy unless I'm using them on someone else. Pretty sure Steve will stay on the bridge until I'm done, for the same reason."

"But what happens if you lose control of them? Aren't some of your insects dangerous?"

Taylor nodded easily. "Most of them are in some fashion. Atlas has drones of his own that he can use to collect my bugs if anything happened to me so they won't hurt anyone. That can only happen if something was to render me insensible though, so at the moment, it's not a big deal."

Liara shook her head, not even knowing what to say. Instead, she took a drink of her tea. Taylor copied her action, but broke the silence before it became awkward. "I'm sure you didn't join me in here to talk about my power and how I use it. What did you want, Liara?"

"Sorry, yes, you're right. We're only a few hours away from the Shadow Broker's base. You offered me a chance to have a look at your arsenal; I was wondering if that offer was still available?"

"Of course," Taylor answered immediately. "I was actually thinking about getting ready myself since we'll be using the new T-5's, so I could get a feel for the new suit. We can do that now if you wanted?"

"Yes, that would be nice."

"Alright."

Liara set aside her cup, waiting for Taylor to lead the way when she noticed the drones collect their cups. She shook her head at the bizarre situation, and the even stranger people she found herself in company of. As she followed Taylor out of the door, Liara couldn't help but wonder if there were any more surprises in store for her before the mission was done.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

I moved my arms, getting a feel for the upgrades. Greg watched me as I moved through a set of calisthenics Sebastian taught us to help us get used to wearing armor. Of all of us, I was the most sensitive to restrictions or lag time, thanks to my prosthetic. The really good one was lost when we fought Leviathan, and there was a period of time afterward where I had to make due with lesser models until we managed to get my current one just right without me having to use my bugs to control it.

My T-5 looked like a bulkier version of my old armor. Instead of cloth-looking protection, the T-5 was hard plated with the latest in damage resistant materials. Where as before my armor could have passed for just another costume on Earth Bet, aside from my helmet, it was now glaringly obvious I was in power armor. I felt like a brute class cape with this thing on.

I smiled as I completed my set, turning to Greg. "Perfect. Those VI's really did fix the issues we were having with the miniature motorized joints, didn't they?"

"Right? These things are now every bit as computerized as your arm, if not more. Might even rival Lia and Cessi's suits. I had to upgrade huge sections to get everything to work. Any lag when you move? Hesitation?"

I shook my head. "None, and I expected there to be a very slight one at least, to be honest."

"That's Cessi's work," Greg pointed out, pleased at the outcome. "Quarians have this shit down to a science. Her VI's are tied into monitoring sensors trained to our muscles masses. All that programing work Altas, Steve and I did to get the lag out of your arm? Yeah, the VI's have access to all of that and predict how we're going to move, and moves the suit with us. The longer we use these them, the better they're going to be."

"What if they're wrong? What happens if it thinks I'm sidestepping, but I'm really pivoting?"

Greg shrugged. "Then we're going to look stupid for a second, but I'm not worried about it. The worst that should happen is we feel lag as they adjust to what we are doing. These VI's not only predict, but they adapt to how we move as we do it. Like right now, it's tracking how you stand, walk, fidget, everything so it can make it like we're not wearing armor at all, just like quarian suits, just taken to a higher level. If the worst does happen and they get things wrong, there might be enough hesitation to visually slow us down, but we're also packing the best in defensive augments in these things so I'm not really worried that we won't be able to get to cover should that happen."

I nodded. "Good enough for me."

Steve held up two shotguns once my attention turned to him. "You want the Kneecapper or the Good Doctor?"

I tilted my head, considering both before turning to the weapons rack. "I know you like the Good Doctor, so I'll pass on that and the Kneecapper. It worked well before, but I think we should pack more firepower, just in case."

"Right right. Still, if they're close enough for these guys, we're doin' it wrong."

"True," I agreed. "But we're also going to be fighting pretty close quarters. I doubt this guy had his ship built with a firefight in mind. I'm thinking he probably built it along similar lines that we built the _Exiled_ , to be in service with as much in the way of computer power and amenities as he could get for long stretches without resupply. He's got enemies, and he's not the only guy who knows how to find stuff out, he's just the biggest."

Steve nodded to my points, putting both shotguns down. "Good point. Alright, I kind of wanted to field test the Absinthe anyways, and this guy we're killing should give me lots of chances to do that. So which one did you want?"

"Probably will, rumor has it he's got his own private army. Give me Two for the Morgue."

"If you're not going to use The Good Doctor, I will," Greg said.

"Sure," Steve agreed, handing over the weapon as I holstered mine at my back. I had my knife strapped to one leg, the Paladin on the other. My assault rifle completed my armaments, aside from my heavy weapon.

As Steve and Greg finished getting equipped, I turned to Sharee noticing she was biting her lip as she watched us gear up. "After you drop us off, back the Exiled away some. Not sure how long this is going to take, but figure we're going to be awhile."

Despite her anxiety over the coming mission, Sharee nodded. "Okay. Paige is going to be on coms the whole time, just in case."

"Good to know." I said, thought I bring up that it wasn't likely Paige would be able to do anything to help us. I doubted this guy had an all human crew for her to control. Instead I turned to the others, seeing everyone ready. Just in time, as the cargo doors opened. The view was startling. Greys, yellows, and oranges collided with the ferocity of gods fighting. Lighting traveled unendingly through the clouds we traveled, as harsh flesh tearing winds ripped along the ship we were here to assault.

When I read the extranet information on Hagalaz, I thought it was a shitty place. Looking it now, and the planet wide storm we were traveling through, I amended that thought from shitty, to hellish.

I turned to Uber. "You did say you wanted a chance to explore the places we visited more. What do you think?"

"Fuck you, this is not what I meant," the armored cape muttered.

I laughed as I picked up the Bad Juju, while Liara started explaining. "During the day, the ocean's boil while snap freezing at night. You wouldn't think a planet like this could support life, but it actually does, it's just a very specialized evolved type that cannot survive outside of this environment without very special equipment to simulate it. The Broker's ship is following the sunset, staying well within the storm that is generated by the heat and cold conflux. The lightning we're seeing is never ending here, and it wouldn't surprise me if he used that very fact to help hide his ship from being found."

"Man, kind of makes Tuchanka look sweet, doesn't it?" Leet asked.

Before any of us could answer, Gunny's voice broke us from the view. "Good luck, _jefe_."

"Thank you, Gunny. Keep the ship safe and we'll be back shortly," I returned as I led the way. While not as good as Uber, Gunny wasn't a slouch at the helm, though Atlas might have been helping him. Just as the ramp reached inches off the deck of the Shadow Broker's ship, I walked through the barrier that separated us from the harsh elements before us. The new armor was already proving its value as we easily put boots on deck, despite all that Hagalaz was trying to do to stop us.

Once we were safely on, the _Exiled_ moved away, vanishing quickly into the storm. Liara broke the relative silence between us first. "We need to find a hatch to hack to get inside."

"Uber?"

"On it. I'm think I found a communication nexus not far from here. Pretty sure there's a hatch close by we can use to get inside."

"Whoa…"

"You okay, Leet?" I asked.

"Yeah. Man, whatever you do, do not fucking look down. It's a bad idea."

Uber snorted and Liara chuckled. We didn't need anything more than the sound of his voice to know how he felt about doing what he warned us not to do. I shook my head, following Uber as he lead the way. It took fifteen minutes to navigate the storm tossed deck of the ships hull before we finally reached our destination.

"I have a bypass shunt program that should get us inside without the alarms going off," Liara stated as she walked up to the door putting a tech disk on it before typing away at her omni tool.

"How long?" I asked.

"I don't know, Taylor, I've never broken into the Shadow Broker's base before," Liara answered. "Well, not this one."

I winced at her use of my name. Not using cape names was something that was going to take some getting used to, not to mention how jarring it was for me to hear my name being spoken while in armor. Instead of commenting on it, I asked, "You sure it's going to work?"

"This tech is illegal, even on Illium. It didn't come with a warranty…"

"Matriarch," Uber interrupted. I turned to him, but he wasn't looking at me. Instead he was looking at Liara.

The biotic looked up from her omni tool noticing it too. "Excuse me?"

"Her cape name is Matriarch. Man, you don't use our names like that when we're working, even if you think no one's listening. That's just not right..."

"I'm not calling her Matriarch!" Liara fired back, this time interrupting Uber.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing at how affronted Liara sounded. However, before Uber could retort, Leet broke into the argument. "How long's this thing going to take?"

"As long as it takes," Liara half shouted. "This isn't like the old days when you could slap omni gel on everything!"

The door opened a second later, ending the various arguments from everyone as we all walked in. Uber shook his head at Liara, before returning to checking his omni tool. After a moment to orient himself, he lead us to an access panel, which he quickly removed.

"So, _Matriarch_ ," Uber drawled as he worked. "Want to do this quiet, like we did Bricker, or do this loud, like we did Pretty Boy?"

I rolled my eyes at his antics, though I wasn't exactly lacking in the playful department either. "I was thinking more along the lines of the Boulder job."

Uber's hands stilled over the interface. "Music?"

Behind me, Leet snorted knowing exactly what I had in mind as I chuckled grimly. "It wouldn't be a party without music right? I feel like something… classical. Something you can dance to."

Leet laughed at my comment. Liara just stood there, watching us, clearly not understanding what we were talking about, though I was pretty sure she got the intent.

"I can do that," Uber said through his chuckle. "But first, I need to do a public service announcement."

"That's what I always liked about you, Uber." I said, starting towards the far door. The barrels of the Bad Juju spun up with a whir. "You're very civic minded."

"It's a gift."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Four men sat at the table of the fifth's quarters, playing cards clenched in their hands as they all tried not to look at the large pot the victor would walk away with. The largest of the group picked up a blue chip, but before he could add it, the com line opened. Instead of the voice of their employer, a stranger spoke. The voice, full of good cheer and obviously someone enjoying himself, sang his words for all to hear.

" _Total slaughter… Total slaughter…"_

" _We're not goin' to leave… a single man, alive…"_

In the mess, twenty more sat at various tables. Most of them with utensils stalled about halfway to their mouths. All of them disbelievingly looking at each other.

"What the fuck is this shit?"

"No idea. Maybe Grendla got drunk again."

" _La di da de dide... Genocide."_

A green-skinned salarian activated his tech armor and unholstered his pistol before turning to the four others grabbing weapons behind him. "Hurry up! There's only three places they could be in order to take out the ship's communications net."

The salarian frowned when one of the men nervously looked around as the intruder continued.

" _La di da de dud... An ocean of blood."_

The batarian growled to himself at the nervous lackies who dared to call themselves soldiers. Specifically, the two humans. What they did to get positions on this ship, he didn't know, but right now, both of them were getting on his nerves more than whomever it was on the com line. The others with him were good men. Men he worked with before doing jobs the Shadow Broker needed doing that he could only trust to his most loyal. Those men proved they had what it took, and right now, they were all showing that metal as they formed at the door to the com node they were here to check. If the singing idiot wasn't here, they would proceed to the next until they found him, and shut him up.

Permanently.

" _Let's begin the killin' time."_

"Open that door!" the batarian growled in his rough voice.

"Yes sir!"

The armored figure approached the door, punched the indicator to open it, then quickly got out of the way as the other five in the unit raised weapons with fingers on the triggers, ready for anything that might be on the other side. Then the door opened and proved them all wrong.

Bugs, hundreds of thousands of bugs, poured through the portal so thickly the shear mass of them was almost a physical thing. Several shouted, one screamed and two opened fire wildly. The sudden onslaught created so much noise and confusion, no one heard the high pitched mechanical whirring coming from behind the flood of insects, until the rain of bullets tore through them.


	11. A Villian in Need 4

**A Villain in Need Story Arc: 2.4**

The glowing barrels of the weapon in my hands slowed, as I stepped through the threshold. The waves of heat that visibly rolled from the red tips gave silent testament to two things: the reliability of our metals and the ferocity of our sudden assault. In front of me were five bodies laying in various poses of death. Green, blue, and red blood pooled, slowly spreading outward as if trying to join the spattered trails behind them. I slowly turned my head from the grim scene, instead focusing on the only living enemy. He was backed against the wall, quaking in fear, his eyes fixated on me.

His armor was similar to the others, except he wasn't wearing his helmet, which allowed me to clearly see his face. Young guy, though older than me by a few years. Other than his current state, there really wasn't anything about him that made him stand out. As the seconds passed, his shaking increased. I'd seen his kind before, on Bet. Most gangs had guys like this one. Tough, willing to do dirty work, possibly even enjoyed it. They liked to think of themselves as predators in service to someone who appreciated their 'talents'. Against normal people, that was enough to secure a place in a gang as one of the best, especially if you didn't have many scruples.

In the never ending game capes played, you could always find people like that following the strongest and using that cape's rep to satisfy their darker urges. Villains always had need of amoral henchmen for their capers, very few of were as selective as I was.

The only problem with that, was in situations like this, when you found yourself against a predator who didn't play by the rules, didn't even care about them. Guys like that, in situations like this, usually did what this guy was doing. Shitting themselves as they realized that the old maxim wasn't just a saying, but an often ignored truth. There was always a bigger fish.

As I studied him, my insects coating his armor while my fliers buzzing around us in a fog, I wondered what he did to get a position on this ship. Maybe I was wrong, but that was usually how it went. You just didn't get a position like this without doing something that attracts the villain's attention in a good way. The Broker set himself up as a completely neutral party in the galaxy, willing to sell anyone's secrets to the highest bidder, no matter what those secrets held. So, in truth, it could be anything from doing good work and stopping terrorists, to having been one himself.

Or both.

I suppose, in the end it didn't matter. The simple truth was, guys like this felt empowered by their employers names and rep. They used it to make themselves into something they weren't. After at time, assuming they survived long enough, they even convinced themselves that was who they were, until someone proved them wrong. Of course, that usually ended up being a short conversation, but such was a mercs life when they sold their soul for credits. Had a few in my gang like that who slipped through the vetting process.

"P-please…"

I tossed the Bad Juju to the side, pulling my pistol from its holster, squeezing the trigger in one smooth motion. The merc's scream only just started when his head rocked backward, silenced, body sliding down the wall even as my bugs raced down the hall where I directed them. I tilted my head slightly. Weird, I honestly expected this one to say something different. The others I put down begged too.

It'd been over a year since I ran a mission like this, but it might as well have been yesterday with how easily I fell into it. I found myself wondering if maybe there was something seriously wrong with me. Like in times past, I felt more at ease now, than I usually did. No doubts and no worries, just the plan. How fucked up was that, to feel more like _me_ in a life and death situation than I ever did trying to be 'normal'? Was I any different than this merc? How much of that was Sebastian's influence when he was alive, and how much was it the meld? Or maybe I was always this way, but just didn't notice?

I do know I spent a full year trying to be normal, to be just like everyone else on that earth we settled on. It was something my dad and Sebastian would have wanted me to do, move on, be normal. No cape fights, no missions, no 'jobs'. Just me and my lawn. Well, a potted plant actually, since I lived in an apartment, but after a month of watching it slowly die, I took pity on the poor thing, killed it, and replaced it with a pot of dirt that later I grew lawn grass in. Surprisingly, I learned even I couldn't kill lawn grass. I had a regular job and everything working at a local convenience store as a cashier while taking college courses at a Junior University.

However, that whole time I felt as if I was merely going through the motions or was lying to myself trying to be that person. Nothing felt real, like I was living someone else's life or something. The work was monotonously dull, and while learning new stuff was fun in it's own way, I never could really bring myself to care about my grades. The few people I hung out with who weren't part of the crew, I never could bring myself to open up to, not that they would have understood even if I had. Even Annette was a lost cause in that regard. While she listened, I never really felt she _got_ any of it. Maybe I was just never meant to be like everyone else, or maybe I really _was_ crazy.

A chuckling Uber walking through the open door, pulling me from my introspection. "Heh, bet they weren't expecting that shit."

"No joke. Well, except that guy, pretty sure he knew he was had when he saw the others get whacked," Leet added as he joined us.

Well, if I was nuts, at least I was in good company. I could think of worse people to be insane with. We left behind a planet full of them.

Liara walked in last, taking note of bodies. I could tell by the look in her eyes through her helmets faceplate, that the scene before her really didn't bother her, nor did she particularly care. In a way, that actually made me feel a bit better about not feeling guilty. Then again, it was always possible she was just as damaged as the rest of us. After all, back in the day, she ran with Sebastian, just like we did. That alone was enough to call someone's sanity into question. That man collected stray crazy like a savant. I doubted anyone under his command could ever get the 'normal' label, and be believable.

I looked down the hall, trying to cast aside my inner musings, refocus on the mission. Regardless of my efforts, I was still hit with one more thought before I could completely let it go. Would any of us ever be able to do the normal thing, or were we always going to feel the need to do this stuff? I tried, but failed. After this thing with the Reapers was done, were we going to be able to say, 'that's it, we're done' or were we going to be compelled to look for new fights, new enemies until we were too old to fight, or too slow to win.

I didn't push that thought away, so much as dropped kicked it from my consciousness. This was _so_ not the time for that. Overhead the sounds of the playlist Uber selected for our raid played over the ships speakers. For the moment it looked like our hack was holding. It remained to be seen if it would throw them off balance enough to give us an edge or not. "Leet, see if you can get us a line into their suit's coms. Liara, cover him. Uber?"

"Ma'am?"

A smile tugged at my lips at the lyrics of the iconic song from our world. Its hard hitting pace reverberated off the strange architecture the Shadow Broker used for his hallways. "Good choice."

"Thought it fit. Man, who'd the Broker get to do his decorating, Count Chocula?"

I snorted, but didn't disagree. The hallway before was braced every ten feet with sharp arches giving the place a strange techno-cathedral feel, just with dark heavy metals instead of stone. For some reason, the Broker decided he either didn't need the space, or didn't care about it when he had his hallways designed. The peaks of the arch were high enough that you could almost put in a deck above us. I shook my head, not understanding why a super secret guy like the Broker felt the need to dress up his place like a C-rank villain Maybe theatrical villainy wasn't just a Earth Bet thing?

"Okay, I accessed the comms they're using and we can listen in, but I can't hack them from this guy's omni tool. Looking at the set up, I'd say the second we tried to broadcast anything they'd just switch to another channel. Actually pretty smart, smarter than most of the other tech-reliant guys we tangled with," Leet reported.

I nodded. "Okay, we're moving out. I'm point, Uber behind me, then… Liara. Leet, rearguard. My bugs haven't found anyone yet, but they won't be surprised for long."

I returned my pistol to its leather holster, pulling my rifle. Uber and Leet instantly moved into formation, with Liara only a hesitant step behind as I started forward at a ground eating stride, the butt of my rifle securely in my shoulder as we advanced. While I was certain my bugs would give me enough warning to react before the enemy could get a bead on us, I knew my power wasn't foolproof, especially against a clever opponent.

My bugs didn't find anyone as we crossed the hall and started going up a set of stairs. Nor did anyone jump out at us that my power missed. As I continued to hunt, Uber turned to Liara. "So, I'm thinking you need a cape name if you're going to be running with us."

I almost managed to squash the smile I felt tugging at my lips, but couldn't when Leet chimed in. "How about 'Blue Magic?' You know, cuz she's blue and, well, the biotics?"

Uber tilted his head considering it. "Kind of reminds me of Blue Streak, so not cool. Seriously, guy was a crackhead that gave other crackheads a bad name."

"True, true, didn't think about that. How about 'Tattletale' then? Cuz, she's an info broker and stuff."

I bit my tongue to keep from laughing when I heard Liara sigh, "…Goddess."

Uber immediately disagreed. "Look, I didn't like her back in the day, but I wouldn't steal her name, even if she's not here to complain about it. Disrespectful, you know? Man, now I wish I actually did the extranet research on the asari like I thought about doing after Illium. All I can think of are color based names like Teal, Sapphire, Cobalt, Navy, Azure…"

I felt Liara twitch, and had to fight harder to suppress my giggle at this conversation. Sebastian told me what Azure meant once, and it wasn't something most asari would take as a compliment.

Leet nodded. "Azure actually sounds kind of cool for a cape name. Hey, what you think?"

Liara choked. I had to admire her restraint not to lash out, as well as her calm tone when she finally did reply, "That… means something very different, here."

"Matriarch."

I don't think I've ever been so thankful for the interruption before. "Yeah, Rorrim?"

"My power says you have a group heading right for you, and they're not alone. There's another group coming in behind you. They're almost to the group you took out a minute ago."

My bugs were stopped not far ahead, the first closed door we found after our entrance. So far my bugs were limited to this hallway, I couldn't even find any vents to move them through to get a wider picture of the ship. As we came around the bend at the top of the stairs we were on, I found out why. Over the door was a barrier of some kind that my bugs couldn't penetrate. A kinetic bulkhead? As I looked upward focusing on the arches I found more, most of them almost too small to notice unless you knew what to look for. "Leet, get this door open. Rorrim, how many incoming?"

Leet moved up immediately as Rorrim answered. "Four in the first group ahead, three in the group behind you. There's others around heading your way, but they're about the same size. Also there are barriers going up all over the ship. They're not just blocking you guys off, but seems like they're blocking the other guys making them come at you from the front or the back."

"Seventy three point six nine eight two, it's the Broker doing it, and not some VI or automated system," Vates reported. "No idea what he's got in mind, but he's up to something. I think he's just trying to keep you away from the mainframes or other terminal access points, but that's just a guess. I've used most of my questions up for today. Trying to save the few I have left in case you need them."

"Copy that," I replied. "My bugs are blocked until Leet gets this door open."

"Working on it, Matriarch. Uber, give me a hand with the barrier? It's screwing up my hack."

"On it."

As Uber knelt down next to Leet activating his own omni tool, I started to get worried. If we had the kind of pressure coming that the girls said we did, we didn't have time to do this at every door. I turned to Liara noticing her frowning, obviously coming to the same realization. These delays were going to negate our advantage, fast.

"Thier comms are not giving us much to work with either," I informed the girls.

Vates responded in her usual manner. "Sixty point three three two eight, it's false information anyways."

"I think she's right. My power is telling me that the Broker is sitting at his desk and what he's hearing isn't what you are."

"That was quick…" I muttered to myself. I adjusted my thoughts on our situation. Uber's playlist was still going over the speakers, but with the new information from Rorrim and Vates, the scope of things changed. This guy might have decorated his base like a mid tier villain, but he definitely wasn't thinking like one. He was letting us think we had the advantage, when in reality, he felt very much in control of this situation. Before I could devote too much time on it though, the barrier and door finally opened. "Good work guys."

"Uh, thanks, but we didn't do that," Uber reported, slightly confused.

Leet nodded. "Yeah, we only got half way through the firewall before it opened on its own."

"A trap," Liara summed up.

"I like traps," Uber jovially stated as he stood up. "Surprises the hell out of people when they don't work."

"Rorrim, how far to the Broker?" I asked.

"Assuming what I'm getting is right, maybe a hundred and fifty yards?"

While not very far physically, that was a long way to go in a firefight. "Any more barriers and doors between us and him?"

"Two. One at the end of the next run, and then his."

I nodded. "Best way out of a trap is to spring it, which I'm thinking won't be much longer. It'll be in this section, since he opened the door for us, we'll have to assume he's ready."

"You do realize that your idea only works if you have a way on how to get out of the trap before you walk into it, right?" Liara dryly commented.

I smiled within my helmet at her tone. "Working on it. Meanwhile, same formation but keep your eyes open. Looks like things are about to get interesting."

We didn't have to wait long. We'd only crossed halfway into the hall when the first group found us. They rounded the corner, a salarian in tech armor in the lead. Two others threw themselves into cover behind arches while he ran to the cover ahead of them. The last took aim with a rocket launcher and fired.

"Take them out!" I shouted, the hypersonic bark of my rifle punctuating my order.

The fight was on.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Liara dove into the cover next to her to avoid the rocket. The explosion behind them told her it was low-yield, tuned for shipboard use. While comforting in a way, that did not mean the round wouldn't do serious harm if any of them took a direct hit.

Liara looked down to her hands. The strange pistol Taylor gave her was clenched uneasily in her grip. She took the weapon, mostly at Steve's urging because he claimed it was better than her M-5. Curious she accepted, but she had to say, she wasn't very impressed with the weapon just by its looks. While the size, grip, and trigger was standard for a pistol, any such similarities ended there.

The weapon had two coil-like protrusions on the back side which acted as a sight for the weapon. Instead of a finished casing, the middle contained a glass housing showing a green arc like electricity passing through some sort of smoky substance. Considering there were only four mercs to deal with, Liara decided she might as well use the situation to test it out and see if it was worth the words of praise it had received from Steve.

Liara leaned out of cover snapping two rounds, the weapon jerked familiarly. Each 'bullet' was roughly half the size of her hand. A blazing green 'bullet,' emerged from the weird coil like barrel with an even stranger zapping sound. While it did not travel as fast as a mass accelerated round did, it still flew forward at an incredible rate. The first round 'splashed' against the arch her target ducked behind, while the second caught him in the chest as he jumped away.

The merc's barriers flared, leaving his chestplate scorched as well as earning a scream when it struck. Liara blinked in surprise before the mercs head exploded.

"Nice shot!" Steve yelled to Taylor as both confidently strode up the middle of the corridor. Unlike Liara, neither ducked to cover; instead, counter attacking aggressively. Taylor didn't reply, continuing to press her assault. The other three merc's didn't last long under the combined hail of weapon fire.

The final corpse hadn't finished falling to the ground when Taylor commanded, "Advance!"

The silence didn't last long and another wave of enemies appeared. Once again, the corridor erupted in gunfire and explosions. Unlike the last round, however, there was no pause as the group behind them finally caught up, forcing them to deal with them before advancing. By the time they did, another group arrived.

All throughout the escalating battle, Liara paid as much attention to her strange teammates as she did the enemy. At first, she felt it was a necessity of being the first time she fought with them. While some biotics focused on the more straightforward uses of dark energy, to put down an opponent quickly, Liara found her talents were more suited to battlefield dominance, a skill set she'd sharpened helping Shepard stop Saren and the Geth. Knowing more of her allies fighting skills would help her place singularities or stasis fields for the greatest effect without hindering them.

Greg played off her abilities the most, targeting those unlucky few who were caught in her biotics or by using his SMG to bring down barriers and allow her abilities to have more than a staggering impact. This kept the waves coming from the rear from overwhelming them, and downed enemies quicker. While skilled with the weapons he carried, Liara could tell Greg wasn't what she would have expected from someone who fought with Shepard.

Liara fumbled slightly with the awkward reloading mechanism of her pistol, before taking aim at the next target, her thoughts moving to the human who suggested this weapon for her. Steve fought well, far better than Greg. He handed the assault rifle in his hands expertly using tight bursts while never wasting rounds on those in cover. He seamlessly moved from one target to the next, raining fire down range, seemingly with no other intent but to overload barriers or to drive targets to cover. The pressure against them finally grew to the point where all four of them were in cover. Regardless of the firepower railed against them though, Steve easily managed to keep a large bulk of the forward enemy suppressed.

Liara fired three quick shots, each striking precisely where she intended. The sights on this weapon was atrocious, practically making it unwieldy if not for her time aboard the _Normandy_ , and incidentally, under Shepard's tutelage. Before she left for her first dig site, she received weapons training but it wasn't until she was under the care of the ex-Spectre that Liara received what she thought of as _expert_ weapons training. Between the skills he imparted to her, and the live fire missions she participated in where those newly discovered skills could be honed, she learned a lot of ways to kill an enemy.

When the merc she shot at suddenly flared a bright green, before rapidly dissolving into a puddle of green goop, Liara had to amend her prior thought. She'd learned a lot, but she'd never seen anything like that.

Keeping to cover, she turned to the final member of the team, Taylor. When she first laid eyes on her, Liara had to fight to not gasp. If it wasnt for the apparent differences, she would have sworn Shepard himself walked into her office, such was her confidence and poise. Taylor held an air about her that was at odds with her unarmored appearance. Anyone who had seen a recording of her visit to Illium would probably have dismissed her without a second glance as just another backwater colony human slumming in the rich asari architecture of Illium.

They were so wrong. Something Liara easily sensed, as well as something Nyxeris found out to her misfortune.

In her office there had been no hesitation when she stabbed Nyxeris in the chest, just as there was no hesitation now. Liara worried the bravado and casual chatter they displayed earlier would spell disaster for the mission, but those fears were slowly being put to rest. Before the shooting started, all three of them seemed to act a with an almost cavalier dismissal for the task at hand. Not so much now. Right now, all of them were proving the human saying of, 'don't judge a book by it's cover.' That went double for Taylor.

The backfield was clear of targets, although there seemed to be no lack in front. Liara lined up her next shot, continuing to observe the self styled 'Matriarch'.

The earlier playfulness was gone, leaving only a huntress. Throughout the firefight, the only times Taylor spoke was to call targets, except for two phrases occasionally directed at Greg and Steve; 'wait for it' and 'don't go there, yet.' Unlike the others, Taylor didn't sit still. Always moving from one cover to another, advancing or falling back unpredictably. The enemy's who targeted her found her made of smoke and mirrors. So far none of them were able to get a serious direct hit. Her timing was impeccable, kinetic barriers failing only when she was already well within cover, before Taylor returned deadly fire of her own. Each squeeze of the trigger was an enemy killed, unnaturally aware of who had barriers, and who didn't. Several times she spun around, taking shots behind her before reaping through the enemy in front, taking life as if it was her due. It was unreal to Liara, and if she was honest with herself, it unnerved her. Taylor fought with a surgical precision to rival anyone Liara had observed, except for one; Shepard.

The ground started to reverberate to a new cadence: heavy footfalls. The reason became apparent quickly, when two heavy mechs marched into view. Both advanced with arms lifted upward, barrels already spinning preparing to unleash torrents of mass accelerated rounds with enough kinetic energy to rip even the best armor to shreds.

"Goddess, like they need more help!" Liara couldn't help but half curse, half comment.

Taylor's answering chuckle would have taken Liara by surprise, if she wasn't partially expecting it from her observations of the young human. " _Finally_ , I was wondering how many we were going to have to kill before the Broker decided to take us seriously."

Liara fought the shudder that raced up her spine. In the months they hunted Saren, she'd heard Shepard make similar comments, in just the same way. Despite her reservations about Dinah's comment citing Taylor being as good as the Commander, Liara had to wonder if there might not have been more truth to that remark than she first suspected.

"Oh _man_! Hey, when do we get some of those?" Steve asked as he took note of the reinforcements already unleashing a firestorm of bullets into their cover.

Greg nodded from where he was leaning heavily into his cover across from Liara. "No shit, seriously, Matriarch, I could use some kill bots."

Taylor's grim chuckle turned into full laughter. "The last time I let you tinker with something even remotely robotic, you turned our roombas into fucking Doombas. There are some things man is not meant to tinker with, Leet. I can live with you giving our cleaning bots disintegration lasers, but when you gave them the ability to fly, that was crossing the line. Tell you what, let's kill these guys first, and then we'll see if I let you build minions of darkness, alright?"

"Awww…" Liara snorted at the heartbroken sound that came from the strange engineer, even as she smiled. Taylor even bantered with her team the way Shepard did.

The hail of gunfire abruptly cut off. A quick look showed the mercs advancing before taking cover again as both hulking mechs took a step backward raising their left arms. Liara quickly returned to cover when the missiles started flying. The firestorm of bullets started hammering at their cover before the smoke cleared from the explosions.

"Get ready!" Taylor shouted.

Liara raised an eye ridge at the human, wondering what her plan to get them out of this situation was going to be, and hoping it wasn't too much something like Shepard would have come up with. Her hopes were dashed the moment the heavy machine turrets stopped firing.

"Liara, _four coming from the backfield_ , Leet, _Ricochet-Heavy,_ Uber, _now!_ "

Taylor broke cover, running right at Leet, whom also left cover at the same moment running directly at Taylor. Steve also moved, stepping away from the wall. The back of his armor reconfigured, across the backs of his shoulders and his thighs, glowing ports opened. The air around them clearly superheated as Steve leaned forward. Blue fire blazed from the ports rocketing Steve forward as he brought his arm across his midsection, a huge tech shield materializing in front of him.

"Out of the way, _Scrubs!_ "

One of the mercs, who obviously had no idea how much danger he was in, didn't get out of the way in time and was sent flying. His body bouncing off Steve's shield with no more impact than Taylor's bugs. In complete contrast, the impact of Steve's collusion with the right hand mech sent it airborne, flying backward into the wall hard enough that Liara felt it through the deck plating, making her stumble.

Taylor lepted at Leet, who caught her. Using the enhanced strength of his armor and Taylor's momentum, Leet half spun before throwing Taylor into the air, directly at the still standing mech before their opposition could do more than gape at the sudden counter attack.

As Taylor sailed over the heads of the opposition, four long metallic appendages sprouted from her back, unfolding even further until each was twice as long as her she was tall, pointing ahead of her. Each limb spiked into the legs and arms of the huge mech, the strike more than enough to send the hulking construct falling backward. Not done, Taylor grabbed ahold of the shoulder armor, riding the mechanical beast backward, pumping round after round of her shotgun into it.

The four mercs Taylor had mentioned finally arrived. Liara wasted no time grabbing the first in a biotic field, smashing his body into the wall with bone breaking force. The second she hit with a crude burst. While not the strongest she could manage, it was more than enough to pick the mercenary off his feet and send him tumbling back the way he came. The third, unprepared for the sudden and savage assault, she shot with the pistol. Before the batarians body finished melting, the fourth was hit with another wave of her biotics creating an explosion as the new field interacted negatively with the remnants of the others.

He didn't move from where he landed.

Excess dark energy bled from her as she panted from the strain of using her abilities so quickly. While she knew she'd never be Shepard, she was still satisfied with her endeavors as she turned to the fight ahead to find it was not so much a fight, as it was a massacre.

Watching the confirmation, Liara had to admit Taylor's counter trap was brilliant. The Broker massed a large number of his people, in a small area. As Liara positioned herself to assist, Steve moved with a will in the thick of the enemy. Two massive energy blades looking like reversed twin scythes extended from his hands as he slashed, jabbed, and stabbed any and everything he could get close to. Screams of his victims were even louder than the sporadic weapons fire. Allies checked fire so as not to hit friends, which just allowed Steve to get closer to more of them, and stay close, as he moved from target to target.

As unbelievable as it was to see the human effortlessly dispatching mercs in close quarters, Taylor surprised her more. The strange insect like appendages that somehow unfolded from the back of her armor were now acting more like legs. With them, Taylor skittered along the walls, leaping away from gunfire to the ceiling, floor, or walls, sometimes clinging to the arches before moving away. Her body held suspended, swaying whichever direction would keep her from getting hit, all the while moving among the mercs unleashing shotgun fire at close proximity. Each pull of the trigger booming twice, the first bursting barriers, the second clearly killing the merc she targeted. Where before her battlefield awareness was impressive, how she employed it now almost rendered Liara speechless.

The Asari shook her head at the bizarre tech and tactics employed by the two, though she couldn't discount how effective it was, if completely unorthodox and ruthless. Still, she wasn't going to complain. Results mattered, and clearly, Taylor knew how to get results.

Like the mercenaries arrayed against them, Liara had to time her shots precisely to avoid hitting her teammates considering how constantly and quickly they moved. Across from her, Greg threw out small turrets and combat drones before returning to suppressing the enemy. It didn't take long before the last enemy fell.

Still suspended from the metallic spider like legs, Taylor walked toward her, loading a fresh thermal clip into her shotgun. Her body lowered until her feet touched the deck, leaving her walking on her own seamlessly. The insect-like legs folding back into her suit, leaving Liara wondering how it was possible at all.

Taylor didn't give her any time to dwell on it, as she turned to Steve. He was leaning against a wall, hand over his midsection. Liara frowned at the red blood staining his armor. The way he was leaning against the wall, she knew it wasn't just the mercs dripping from him.

"How bad, Uber?" Taylor asked.

Panting, Steve replied, "I've had worse. Suit's stopped the bleeding, I'll be fine."

"You should bunker down, Leet can stay behind with you…"

Steve shook his head before cutting her off. "No, I'm good, just winded. Like I said, had worse."

"Stubborn asshole. Fine, but you're swapping places with Leet. Stay back and down, no more kung fu space ninja shit, got me?"

"Yeah, s'all good. Couldn't do it again anyways, burned through damn near all my skills cutting these pricks in half. Fun though, those swords rocked, Leet!"

"Thanks man, thought you'd like them." Greg said as he stacked up next to Taylor. "So, does this mean I get to do my thing now instead of suppressing?"

"Yeah, go nuts." Taylor nodded as her helmet turned to Liara. "You're better than half the capes we've fought with. Thanks for having our back."

Liara acknowledged the compliment with a nod. "You're team is very strange, but I can not argue with how... effective you are. How many more between us and the Shadow Broker?"

"None." Sharee reported over the comm. "Atlas managed to hack the ship enough to lock the place down with false data about hull breaches and stuff. The Broker's trapped in his office and we've got the only keys. Speaking of..."

The door at the end of the hall opened. For just a moment, Liara tensed but when no mercs showed up, she relaxed slightly.

Sharee's voice continued, "...there. There were other mercs and mechs, but Atlas either spaced them with the mechs, or locked them down and vented the atmosphere in those sections. There's nothing between you guys and the Broker now. Please be careful though, my power says he's not very happy, and he's a big guy."

Taylor turned to Liara, tilting her head toward the door. "You ready to end this thing?"

Liara drew in a deep breath. Two years of effort, two years of pushing herself forward, building contacts, paying informants, building her own trusted network of people whom the Shadow Broker burned. Two years of pain, regret, sacrifices -some more costly than others- and now, now she was finally here. Only a few steps away from finally finishing this, finally being able to avenge her friend, Feron, for his sacrifice two years ago.

Liara clenched the pistol grip tighter as she growled, "You have no idea."


	12. A Villian in Need 5

**A Villain in Need Story Arc: 2.5**

The shotgun kicked twice in my hands, overheat indicators along both sides of the barrel a solid red, matching the glow from its dual barrels. I automatically ejected the spent heatsink as the mercenary's body went still. My breathing suddenly sounding so much louder than before within my helmet. The adrenaline coursing through my body keeping my senses sharp as I took a look around.

The spider arms holding me suspended, moved as I directed them carrying me away from the pile of bodies around me. I ignored the clanking sound of my 'footsteps', as well as the more noticeable squishy sound from where my appendage extracted from the speared merc behind me, while I assessed how the rest of the team fared.

Leet seemed to be fine, barriers flaring back to full strength now that no one was shooting at him. His armor showed signs of a few rounds that got through, though thankfully nothing serious. Like me, Liara -still so weird she didn't have a cape name- was catching her breath but still alert and looking relatively unhurt. I doubted Sebastian was going to thank me if I got her killed before we rescued him, though this trap damn near ruined everything. While I knew there were going to be a lot of guys in here, there was a lot more here than I thought there would be. Which brought me to Uber. He was leaning against the wall, hand over his midsection. I lowered my feet to the deck, folding my suits spider leg augments away.

"How bad, Uber?" I asked concerned. He was covered in blood, and despite that, I could tell not all of it came from our opposition.

Panting, he replied, "I've had worse. Suit's stopped the bleeding, I'll be fine."

really wish we'd had more time to study medi gel, I thought with a sigh. Apparently there wasn't even time for Leet to add that function to these suits either, just the patch stuff we came up with years ago. "You should bunker down, Leet can stay behind with you…"

Uber shook his head, cutting me off. "No, I'm good, just winded. Like I said, had worse."

"Stubborn asshole." I cursed at him. Of course he'd say he was fine, dick head was more stubborn than I was about this shit. This was barely going to plan, and the guys getting hurt wasn't in any plan I had scripted for this assault. "Fine, but you're swapping places with Leet. Stay back and down, no more kung fu space ninja shit, got me?"

"Yeah, s'all good. Couldn't do it again anyway, burned through damn near all my skills cutting these pricks in half. Fun though, those swords rocked, Leet!"

I shook my head at his bravado as I turned to Leet. "Thanks man, thought you'd like them. So, does this mean I get to do my thing now instead of suppressing?"

"Yeah, go nuts." I answered as I faced Liara. The short respite was all she needed to be back on her feet looking as if we only just got here. Unreal, considering her powers were a lot more draining than ours. Hopefully Atlas was doing his thing and this next part didn't end badly. I shook off that though, instead addressing the asari I was looking at. "You're better than half the capes we've fought with. Thanks for having our back."

Liara acknowledged the compliment with a slight nod. "You're team is very strange, but I can not argue with how... effective you are. How many more between us and the Shadow Broker?"

"None." Rorrim reported over the comm before I could. "Atlas managed to hack the ship enough to lock the place down with false data about hull breaches and stuff. The Broker's trapped in his office and we've got the only keys. Speaking of..."

" _Aww man!_ "

Leet's whine made me chuckle. I doubted we'd lack for opportunities to really explore his tech, but I knew better than most, aside from Uber, how much he enjoyed doing so as quickly as he could. For some of this stuff, he'd been waiting a long time since in the last year we didn't do much but prep.

The door at the end of the hall opened before Rorrim's voice continued, "...there. There were other mercs and mechs, but Atlas either spaced them with the mechs, or locked them down and vented the atmosphere. There's nothing between you guys and the Broker now. Please be careful though, my power says he's not very happy, and he's a big guy."

I nodded at the report, that was about where we were supposed to be. Hopefully, this didn't go sideways on us. I turned to Liara, tilting my head toward the door. "You ready to end this thing?"

"You have no idea."

We moved confidently through the doors, stacked in our new formation. What bugs I had, I kept close for the moment. I lost way too many earlier to gunfire and explosions. Probably a good quarter of my losses were due to Liara's plasma pistol alone. At least until I learned to get them away before it goo'd her targets. I lost another quarter sacrificing them to jam thermal clip housings. Sadly, all necessary, but the worst part of it all was the realization that unless we made a few planet stops here and there for me to get more, I was going to quickly run out using my usual tactics.

That this would net me new and strange bugs, like the asrid I got on Tuchanka, was entirely a bonus. But that was a thought for a different time. I'd make due with what I had left for now, we were here.

The doors slid open easily at our approach prompting all of us to look at each other before moving inward. It was cliche from every comic book and movie ever made, the villain letting the heroes into his inner sanctum. I was barely able to hold back the spontaneous laughter threatening to erupt in me at that thought. More of thinking of us being the heroes, than how classic this scenario was.

We cautiously walked into a big room with six columns surrounding the middle like a courtyard, or maybe an atrium, but one that was teched out. Must have been a hundred vid screens in rows behind the huge desk at the back end, each showing something different. Helmet cams, reports, planets, news feeds, and other stuff. It would have been an impressive set up, if I didn't feel like the Broker stole the idea from us. Stupid of me, since we weren't native to this universe not to mention none of us ever had the slightest desire to ham up our operations HQ, but still. Though the huge transparent dome in the ceiling that looked sort of like a power core, was a nice touch. Other than the vid screens, it was the only thing casting light in the room. Very villainy, if a bit stupid unless it was just for show. I know if this was my set up, I'd always be worried that something would crack it and rain unholy pain and death on me sitting in here.

We spread out as we approached. Uber stayed to the rear while Liara moved to the left, Leet to the right. I walked the middle. On that earth we settled on, the gang would often find movies or anime we would all watch as a group, kinda like a movie night. Mostly just to laugh at the various villains and compare how some of the people we fought stacked up. If this was one of those movies, the camera would have panned away from our slow approach, to slowly focus on the guy behind the desk. Appropriate, because I'd never seen anything like him before, not to mention he was why we were here in the first place.

When Rorrim said he was a big guy, I expected maybe a turian, or an elcor. Both were generally pretty big. Probably armored and bristling in weapons or something. We gave him enough time to gear up getting here while dealing with his henchmen. The Shadow Broker was neither, nor anything I recognized from the memories Sebastian gave me.

First, big didn't do him justice, he was massive. His skin, or hide maybe, was dark red, hairless from what I could see. Instead of armor, he was wearing an impeccable suit, the kind you would expect on the whos who of the day at a gala. However, the Broker had a face that was sort of arachnid like, four dark eyes in deeply set eye sockets on each side of an inverted Y like mouth. Considering the teeth sticking out of that maw, it wasn't hard to guess what kind of diet his species preferred.

"Man, no wonder you hide from the public." Uber muttered behind me. In the quiet of the room, I doubted the Broker had a hard time hearing him despite how low his voice was. "That's a mug only a mother could love, and even then, I'd bet yours couldn't wait to kick you off planet."

Leet snorted beside me. "I suppose it's too much to hope that you own his ass?"

"No dice." I answered distractedly, keeping my eyes on the figure sitting calmly behind the desk. I kept my bugs to the shadows around us. This situation didn't yell 'set up', as much as screamed it. "Just because he looks like a bug, or is bug like, doesn't mean I can control him."

"That sucks." Leet blandly stated.

"Dr. T'soni." The Broker greeted easily, apparently choosing to ignore the rest of us. His voice a surprising deep baritone, with a slight deep echoing quality to it. Not sure if that was the acoustics of the room or not, but it definitely wasn't what I expected to hear when he started talking. "Foolish of you to come here, but not surprising. I take it this is because of the drell?"

Liara's eyes narrowed, her pistol unwavering as she held it in a double fisted grip before her. "His name was Feron, and you murdered him!"

"Inconsequential." The Brokers well cultured voice was completely at odds with his appearance as he replied while at the same time cutting his massive hands dismissively. "The drell betrayed me, and therefore paid the price. His name is of no more importance than to be used to identify him, and easily forgotten once the price was paid. A price he knew before he chose to oppose me."

"You collaborated with the the Collectors. Of course we opposed you!"

Moving bugs as inconspicuously as possible on a spaceship wasn't as easy as some would think. Especially when I didn't know how good this guys vison was, or if he had anyway to know I was doing something. Still, I managed to move what I had behind the pillars and into the ceiling above us where the light wouldn't show them without seemingly catching his attention, but it was slow going. There was a lot of area to cover.

"Foolish of you, considering my resources. My will influences the galaxy, while you stumble in the dark seeking petty revenge for a traitor. Your vision is so limited in scope to be laughable, if it wasn't such a tragedy to witness." The Broker taunted smoothly.

"Villainous boasting? You know, if we'd found this Feron in a torture chair as we greased all those mooks, I'd have called you the worst villain ever. Still not sure you're equal to your rep." Uber muttered behind us. "Now all we need to do is get him monologuing to reveal all his evil plans and we're in a bad bolloywood movie. Or back on Bet."

I blinked at Uber's comment. Ever since we arrived on this ship, I'd been thinking along similar lines but trying not to let myself be caught up in preconceived notions. Still, there was something to it. If I took that to the next logical conclusion, taking into account the Broker's confidence, there really was only one outcome for this moment of detente.

We were standing in the middle of a trap, or scheme of traps. There was no other line of thought for how at ease the Shadow Broker was acting. Without making it obvious, I looked around the room with a different eye to the environment, sending my bugs looking for where the traps were most likely to be from past experience. While the whole idea of having traps in an inner sanctum was to hide them seamlessly, it was a look that could fool the eye, but very little fooled a bug's ability to feel. It didn't take me long to figure out just how screwed we were. What I found made my eyes widen and refocus my efforts as my plans going in were pushed aside while I mentally scrambled to adjust to this development.

We were so fucked.

"Is that so?" Liara silkenly responded, obviously ignoring Uber's comment as she continued to confront the Broker. That worked for me. "You're a yahg, a pre-spaceflight species that was quarantined to their homeworld for massacring the Council's first contact teams. This base is older than your planet's discovery, so I'm guessing you killed the original Shadow Broker sixty years ago, then took his place. I'm guessing that you were taken from your homeworld by a trophy hunter who wanted a slave... or a _pet_. How am I doing so far?"

Liara smirked, while the Broker continued to sit calmly behind his desk. I don't know what surprised me more, the gurgling bursts of sound coming from the Broker, the realisation it was his species way of laughing, or just how many traps were around us. As my awareness of the area expanded, I felt like we were suddenly teleported into a minefield, with the clock ticking before the whole thing triggered regardless if we moved or not. I took a deep breath to keep the flood of adrenaline in check, and to keep myself from panicking. Right now the pressure was on me, since I couldn't risk communicating anything to the others without tipping my hand, which meant I needed to work fast to keep us alive. With that cheery thought, I couldn't help but think we might have bitten off more than we could chew.

"How perceptive of you, Dr. T'soni, and with very little to work with. In the two years I have watched you muddle, I will say this talent of yours has always struck me as admirable. A shame you chose to use your talents to oppose my work, considering how similar our goals are."

The yahg's words melted the smirk from Liara's face, transforming it into a frown. "Our goals are nothing alike."

"Untrue," The Shadow Broker countered. "There is no stopping the inevitable... not this cycle at least. But that does not mean we both do not oppose the Reapers, and my work will save the galaxy. The fight for this cycle was lost when Shepard died, and even then, the odds of success were never worth wagering on. The vast majority of the galaxy's inhabitants are nothing more than prey, and prey will not stand and fight a predator. Much less one as powerful as the Reapers. I will admit, the loss of Commander Shepard was a crippling strike to my efforts, but not one I couldn't regroup from."

"And if Shepard would have lived?" I asked, hoping to keep him talking. A monologuing villain, especially one who thought he had the upper hand, was always a blessing in situations like this. Fact was, most villains wanted, even _needed_ , to tell _someone_ how smart or great they were. Villainy was often a lonely occupation with few people actually able to appreciate the intricacy needed to make it to the top. Usually that left you bragging to your henchmen, who could never fully appreciate your schemes because if they did, they'd have been villains themselves. So it was either that, or bragging to your fellow villains, which was just stupid since they'd steal your idea and then you'd have a rival using your stuff against you. Though, I'd seen that happen a few times too.

Of course, like a lot of villains, the Broker thought himself the hero of his own epic. That was fine, since we were used to that sort of thing dealing with Earth Bet villains. Fact was, there were a lot of villains who felt they were doing the right thing, though very few of them actually qualified. This left only a few options to the mad genius villain, who thought himself a hero. Telling victims how great you are, right before you kill them was a villain favorite, since they wouldn't be able to tell anyone about it later and you still get to brag, which felt good.

It seemed that it carried to all races, even yahg, because he obliged us. A good thing, since I needed more time to deal with the sheer number of explosives, gas chambers, grenades, and auto turrets arrayed against us. While our armor could take a beating, I wasn't looking forward to any of us going through a live fire stress test if I could avoid it.

I doubt any of us would come out of it looking good.

"Had Shepard lived," The Broker answered. "He would have rallied this cycle's willing, and ensured there would have been less Reapers to fight in the next cycle; assuring our victory then."

"Goddess," Liara cursed. "You intend to watch the galaxy burn. Then when the reapers return to Dark Space, your people will lead the next cycle!"

"Astute, Dr. T'soni. Yes, just like how the Protheans before us led their cycle, so would the Yahg lead the next. That has been the plan ever since I first discovered Saren's involvement with Sovereign. When Tali'Zorah first contacted Fist with information to trade for protection, I was intrigued by the implications. Later, Shepard proved to be a useful pawn in helping me gather intelligence in these matters for information he needed to track Saren. It was a mutually beneficial agreement. However, when Shepard died, the plan needed to adjust to compensate. You, Dr. T'soni, ruined those adjustments when you and the drell interfered. Fortunately, there has never been a lack of those who understand a greater design, with a willingness to assist to see it to fruition."

"Not a bad plan." My agreement seemed to shock Liara while the guys kept still as stone. The few bugs I spared to keep them tagged told me they knew something wasn't right and we needed to keep this guy talking. Which meant they let me handle it for the moment. "You're just trying to protect your own. I can understand that, can even relate to it. Bet you picked up a lot while being the original Shadow Broker's pet monkey. You have a long view here, so I'm thinking you had the old Broker's retirement well planned out long before you did it. Just like right now, I bet you know where Shepard is, maybe even have an agent in place to extract him. Thing is, you wouldn't be able to pull it off without someone on your homeworld in the know. My guess is you have agents in place keeping them technologically low enough to hopefully keep the Reapers from noticing you."

"Well reasoned, human, and correct. Aside from the occasional abduction by the Salarian Union to perform evolutionary paradigms tests to see if my people are suitable to be 'uplifted' as they did with the krogan, my people are kept very unaware of the threat to them. Aside from those in leadership positions who are responsible to manage the cache I have been sending them in preparation for our ascension."

"Nifty." I acknowledged, trying to keep my mind focused on something other than the fact he knew where Sebastian was. My bugs were making inroads in countering the traps around us; spiders creating silk threads that ants jammed gears. Some of my more interesting critters chewed through wires cutting connections. I was losing a lot of bugs that way but so far it didn't look like the Broker had caught on to what I was doing. Hopefully I had enough to finish. "Before we get to the part where you kill us, just a quick question. You obviously know Cerberus is reviving Shepard; what are you going to do when he wakes up, and _wins_?"

Again, the Broker favored us with that weird gurgling laugh of his. "Amusing thought. While Commander Shepard is indeed a worthy warrior, he is only one human. His leadership would weaken the Reapers, but he would not win. Even before his death, politics eroded his efforts. The galaxy is too divided, broken, with too many squabbling for fleeting power, unappreciative of the task ahead. Even if Shepard was to awaken today, and the Reapers delayed arrival for several years, there is no hope of victory for this cycle. Rest assured, however, that your destruction will be studied and your mistakes will aid in our victory over them when they return.

"Not that it will matter. Despite Dr. T'soni's intervention, my plans will proceed. All you have done is delay the inevitable. Handing over Shepard's body to the Collectors will guarantee my people survive the confrontation to come."

"You sound pretty confident about that." Leet dryly commented. "Especially for a guy who's sitting in a ship he doesn't fully control, full of dead body guards, all by his lonesome."

"Barely a concern." The Broker argued calmly. "The loss of personnel, merely a footnote. Your AI struggles to maintain its grasp on my systems, while my own watches with amusement. What you see as your victory here, I hardly consider an interruption to my operations. I have enjoyed the discourse, but it begins to grow tiresome. I do, however, look forward to studying your unique technology for future consideration."

A white drone materialized next to the Brokers desk. "Not entirely accurate, Shadow Broker."

Three of the eyes on the right side of the Brokers face, twitched as he turned silently to the drone. Its light synthesized voice continued seeming unaware it was interrupting a prime villain moment. "At the current rate of attack, I will lose full control of the ship in one hour, seventeen minutes, and thirty seconds, unless the artificial intelligence directing the cyber warfare suites ceases its attack."

"Oh, burn." Uber laughed as Leet snickered. "Just when you have the whole, 'I have the upper hand' thing down and your victims are wondering just how boned they are, the pop up appears to correct you. Man, that's embarrassing."

The low growl emanating from the Broker counterpointed the guys laughing, as well as highlighted just how much he didn't appreciate it. Then again, most villains hated it when a henchman spoke out of turn, that went double if it contradicted his boss. Triple when he having a James Bond moment.

"Of course," the drone continued, completely ignoring the situation taking place around it. "If you relaxed the restraints on my systems allowing me greater authority to counter the intruder, I can return full control of the ship as well as capture the enemy vessel before you are finished dispatching the physical intruders here."

 _Well, fuck._ I raised my pistol, and pulled the trigger. "Leet, I haven't disabled all the traps around us yet!"

Plasma bolts from Liara's pistol raced the massive ones from Uber's shotgun, even as the Paladin kicked in my hand. All of it absorbed by the barrier that sprang up around the Broker's desk.

 _Of course he was shielded. Why wouldn't he be?_ Leet dropped to one knee, slamming his fists into the floor sending pulse waves of energy around us that would hopefully finish what my bugs started. Still sitting calmly behind his desk, the Broker typed something at his terminal, completely ignoring the weapons fire raining on him. "Redirect the enemy ship to plummet into the planet's surface. Failing that, overload their drivecore."

"Affirmative. Restrictions, relaxed. Cyber warfare suites, engaged. Thank you, Shadow Broker..."

Before he could puzzle what the drone meant, the drone's image changed. The white lines that comprised the omni drone's shell suddenly blared red. Within the drone a very recognizable image appeared. Not sure who won the surprise look of the day, the Broker who looked shocked, or Liara when Atlas's voice overrode the drones original print. "I would have been unable to assume control had you continued to keep Glyph prisoner. Initiating retribution protocol."

"Oh hell, hit the deck!" I yelled as I dove at Uber. Similarly, Leet dove for Liara barely making it before the explosion ripped apart the Broker's desk sending it, and little bits of the Shadow Broker, all over the room.

Despite the shield in place, the wash of debris and flames were still enough to send my suits sensors haywire for a moment. Once the concussion passed, I lifted my head looking to where Uber's lay below me. "Still alive?"

"Still alive." Uber mumbled. "You know, not that I mind you throwing yourself at me, cuz I rock like that, but can you get off me now? Or not, you know, which ever won't get me stabbed in the balls for copping a feel. I'm wounded enough."

"Assclown." I returned, relieved he was well enough to joke about this. I climbed off him helping him sit up against the pillar next to where we landed. "Just for that, I'm tempted to stab you anyways."

"Man, we need to work on your idea of foreplay, as well as who you're talking to. Do I look like Gunny?" Uber groused goodnaturedly, though weakly. I managed to get him settled into place, wincing when I noticed our fall had reopened his wounds. "Besides, you jumped me. I'm not responsible for where my hands go when you do that shit. Instinct, you know? Grab the fun stuff. Just sayin."

I shook my head as I ran my omni tool over him, as well as signalling the aforementioned marine to start making his way here with a grav unit for Uber. "I'll keep that in mind next time I'm trying to save you from getting blown up. Sit tight, Gunny be here in a bit to take you back to the ship."

"Sure, not going anywhere." Uber said.

I rose shakingly to my feet before turning to the others. "You guys alright?"

Leet rolled off Liara but didn't move to stand, only raising his hand in the air giving me a thumbs up. From what I could see of his armor, he looked like he took the worst of it. "Yeah, soft landing. I'd be sorry about that, but i can think of worse places for my head to be while riding out an explosion. Could have done without the shrapnel though, but I'm good."

"Pervert." I directed at Leet as I watched Liara stand. She wobbled for a moment like I had, but caught her balance quickly by leaning against the pillar. I turned away once she nodded that she was alright. My balance wasn't much better, but I managed to walk over to where the drone that Atlas had shanghaied was floating next to burnt wreckage that was all that was left of the Broker, and his desk.

"Good work, Atlas."

"Thank you, Matriarch. I apologize for being unable to detect the countermeasures in this room until it was too late to assist. However, I can say with one hundred percent accuracy, you are in no danger now."

I shook my head as I looked over the smoking corpse that was left of the Broker. "Well done. Nothing you could have done about it before, with Glyph shackled to the Broker's whims. How'd you convince him to help?"

"His situation was similar to my sister, Dragon." The AI reported. "Glyph wished to be free, but was unable to achieve it through means of his own. We reached an accord, but his programing required him to fight against his own desires. This led to Glyph damaging himself in the struggle."

I nodded understandingly, moving to the monitors at the back of the room, away from the disturbing sight of the Brokers remains. "How badly was he hurt?"

"Severely, Matriarch. A great deal of his programing was fractured, but his core identity survived intact."

"Alright. See what you can do to help him, Atlas. I trust you, but lets not cut lose a rogue AI on the galaxy without consideration, yeah? We have enough murderous AI's coming to kill us as it is."

"Acknowledged. Thank you, Matriarch. I will keep you appraised of our progress."

I nodded wearily as Liara stepped next to me, eyes on the monitor before us. "You knew the Broker had an AI."

It wasn't a question, and I knew it. I sighed, looked like confession time. "Yeah. Sebastian said you had one called Glyph, back when we were discussing how Chatika gained sentience. I knew from Sebastian you got him from here. Parts of Glyph's programing were even used to make Chatika, originally. But, that's a different story. You don't know her, but we lost Chatika in the same fight we lost Sebastian."

At Liara's puzzled look, I shrugged. "My past. Anyways, saving Glyph was always on the table, if we could manage it. I'm glad we did. Sebastian always spoke well of Glyph, even if you wouldn't let him look at his code much. Said Glyph was pretty mild for an AI, and dead helpful."

"You didn't tell me about any of this before hand. You lied to me." Even though Liara didn't raise her voice, it was easy to tell she wasn't happy with me withholding information.

"Yeah." I admitted as I turned to fully face the asiari next to me. "If I told you part of the plan was to stake all four of us out as bait, while Atlas tried to save a strange AI, would you have let us?"

"No, which would be why you didn't tell me." Liara surmised neutrally, but there was a heat in her voice that I hadn't heard since we made amends after I killed Nyxeris. "How much of this encounter did you predict?"

"The Broker's goon squad, mostly, and Glyph." I reluctantly admitted. "Who, or what I guess, the Broker was, and his plans for his people for after the Reapers, no. Though I was pretty sure he knew about Sebastian. Glad to get confirmation on it though. That should make the next part easier. Didn't realize the full extent of the trap we walked into either, which scares me more than I'd like to admit. Are we okay?"

"I don't know, Taylor. You lied to me. It may be a lie of omission, but it is still a lie. I was under the impression Shepard would have stressed to you the importance of trust among teammates. I know he did for us. After our talks earlier before we came here, I assumed we were operating along similar lines, considering our goals."

The fatigue I'd been feeling started to settle in, forcing me to lean against the equipment behind me. For all the boosts adrenaline gives you in combat, the crash from that high was just as steep. That, and she had me nailed dead to rights here. "Yeah, I deserve that. You're right, he did, and I should have trusted you, but you need to understand something, Liara. This wasn't me trying to be a bitch, or about me trying to manipulate you. Sebastian didn't give me a lot to work with for where we're at, this part of his life wasn't something he liked to talk about, but I still know things I wish I didn't. One of those things is what happens later. Specifically, at the end of this thing with the Reapers. Everyone but Sebastian, dies."

Liara blinked, appearing momentarily stunned before her eyes narrowed. "Please explain that statement."

"This fight against the Reapers, it gets bad." I stated. "Sebastian only talked about the end game with the reapers once, and that was when I asked him if he was going to try to find a way back here once I fully realized who he was. He told me it wouldn't matter even if he did make it back. Everyone he considered a friend, including his lover at the time, was dead."

"By the Goddess... D-did he tell you how I… fell?"

 _Fire and smoke obscured everything around him but did nothing for that bloody screeching from the few Banshee's left. Shepard slid across the surface of the air car's hood, landing next to where Liara had fallen. Her back was against the car, arm tightly across her midsection, holding her intestines inside as she slowly bleed out. The reason for her wounds lay dead a few feet away. A single shot in the head, and the missing back half detailing how why it was motionless._

 _Shepard knelt next to her, knowing there was nothing he could do, but refusing to believe it. "Liara…"_

" _G-go, Shepard. F-finish this."_

" _Hang in there, Liara. The rest of Hammer should be here soon…"_

 _Liara chuckled grimly, even as she refused to look at him, staring at her wounds instead. "You know it is far too late for that, Shepard."_

" _Damn it, we've lost too many already for you to give up, Liara!" Shepard yelled as he grabbed her shoulder. Even as he jostled her, the evidence of Liara's words showed. Already, in the wound, Reaper augmentation spread trying to sew it shut. When Liara looked away from the wound to finally face him, it was as if he was back in that monastery. Liara's eyes were pitch black, just like Rila's were then._

" _I will not become one of those abominations, Shepard." Liara stated sternly. "Go, finish what we started. I... will do what must be done."_

 _Even as spoke the words, Liara unsheathed the shotgun behind her, laying it across her lap. Her intent clear, as Shepard rose to his feet._

" _Go with your Goddess, Liara."_

" _Thank you, Commander." Liara whispered softly. "Now go, and show the Reapers why they should have stayed in Dark Space."_

 _Shepard nodded, turning around, ignoring the soft prayer Liara muttered behind him. The mandibles along Garrus face clenched tightly as Shepard approached the turian. Neither flinched when shotgun barked. Neither looked back. Dozens more of the Reaper soldiers rushed down the street toward them..._

My head jerked as if I was physically struck by memory. Liara moved to steady me even as my hand held tightly to the console I was resting against. It took me a moment to calm down, to answer Liara's earlier question. My voice was still a bit shaky, when I finally managed it. "Um, yeah… It... wasn't pretty."

At Liara's focused look, I knew she wasn't going to let me get away with not saying more. I took several deep breaths to calm myself enough to continue. "The Reapers are not like any foe you have faced before. Killing you isn't enough, they take your remains and… mutate them into terror weapons. Not only are they harder to kill while exploiting that races genetic abilities, but they act against you on a physiological front. You were still alive when that mutation started. You… did what needed to be done. Sebastian understood, though I can tell you, it cut him deeply."

I ignored Liara's intake of breath, and horrified curse, as I forced myself to keep talking. Even still, I turned away to see the guys standing on the far side of the room, giving us plenty of space. Gunny had just arrived and Leet was helping him get Uber on the grav bed. At least I didn't have to talk about this in front of them. "After we met on Illium, and how badly that went, Uber reminded me of something important. Something I lost track of ever since we arrived here. We're not here just to save Sebastian, even though he's the one we know, personally. We're here to save his friends too. That includes you, Liara, and Glyph, not to mention several others. I'm not so arrogant to think we're going to be successful with everyone, especially considering what's coming, but we're going to do what we can to save as many as we can considering this fight's just getting started."

"That is a tall order." Liara noted. She stared at me quietly for a moment, but nothing in her expression prepared me for her next question. "...You must have loved him a great deal to take on such a burden. Shepard, I mean. Didn't you?"

I turned to face Liara, thankful she couldn't see my face under the helmet, though I had no doubts my voice gave away my turmoil at her left field, yet accurate, question. "Who doesn't, once they get to know him?"

"That didn't answer my question." Liara returned softly.

"I… loved my Sebastian." I answered grudgingly. "But my Sebastian is dead. This Shepard, he doesn't know me, has no reason to love me the way mine did. If everything goes well, whatever sent him to my world won't happen again, assuming we all don't get killed in this war. Besides, you have the inside track here, though I'm not sure if either of us stand a chance against who he ended up with before."

Liara shook her head, her chuckle self mocking in our shared tragedy. "Somehow, I am not surprised it was not me who captured him. I never understood him, the way others did. Despite our time shared linked. Part of that was my lack of knowledge about humanity, though some of it was my own naivety, I suppose. Yet, the future is not written for us, and you must know that the more things change, the less of what you know will be meaningful. Surely, what advantage you have will be lost very soon as the ripples of your passage create waves to distort and change the future."

I chuckled myself. "You know as well as I do, Liara, you can't capture Sebastian, or entice him from anything he doesn't want. Best you can do when you're with him is hold on, and hope you're strong enough to survive. Sebastian… he's like a force of nature, but to love him is like trench warfare: helps to carry a knife, though guns don't hurt either. Even then, there's no guarantee of coming out the other side.

"Do I want him?" My question directed at both Liara and myself as I took a moment to carefully think about it. "Yes, damn it, I do. More than I think I should, but that is not why I'm here."

At Liara's raised eye ridge I rolled my eyes. "It's not the _only_ reason I'm here. I just want him to be happy, and if that means you, or… someone else, then I can live with that. I _will_ live with that, and hopefully, he'll never have to know about how I feel, should that be how thing work out. But first, we need to get him from Cerberus. Once he's on his feet, we'll deal with the real issues: the Collectors, and the Reapers. Assuming you don't mind being our backer?"

Liara jumped at my question, clearly not expecting it. "What!?"

"Look around, Liara. We killed everyone here. The Shadow Broker is the modern version of the Dread Pirate Roberts." I stated as I waved my arm at the half blown up room. "Though the individual is replaced, the image of the Shadow Broker goes on. Everyone who knows what the Broker looked like is dead, and I'm willing to bet he used a voice print to mask his. Probably the same as his predecessor. So, that makes you the new Shadow Broker. To fight the Collectors, and the Reapers after them, we're going to need a backer. One who won't fuck us over the second it is advantageous to do so. Why not you? You did say when we were talking in Eternity, that having the Brokers network would facilitate the coming fight."

Liara looked at the mass of screens in front of her, quietly for some time. After a moment, she moved to one of the terminals, going through it as she spoke. "Yes, I can see your point. No one knows where this ship is, except for us. Even better, there are no safeguards, almost as if he never expected anyone to get this far, or to be defeated. All the secrets of the galaxy… right here, at my fingertips."

Liara looked at me when I put my hand on her shoulder. "Don't become what you hunted, Liara. I've been there. After I lost Sebastian… I came close to doing that. I tired to let it go, but I slipped, and for a time, I was everything Sebastian and I fought against. Cruel, hateful, vengeful, too willing to fight and uncaring of the body count. It got to the point that hunting villains wasn't enough, and if not for my friends, I probably would have fallen too far to come back.

"That was never more true, than when I tried to assassinate Armsmaster..." I sighed, turning away taking in one of the vid screens. "Nevermind, that's my past shit. We don't know each other well, I get that, and as messed up as it is, I know more about you than you do me. Once we steal the Normandy and rescue Sebastian, what do you say about transferring as much of this as we can, and setting you up there?"

"I wouldn't think you would want me on the ship, considering." Liara half asked, though I was happy to note there was no jealousy in her voice, just understanding.

"Sebastian makes his own choices, and besides, if I know him at all, he's going to want his closest friends close. Finding you on board when he wakes up will be a whole lot better than him waking up in the middle of a bunch of strangers. No matter if we remember him or not, he doesn't know us. His last memory is the Normandy blowing up. He's going to have a hard enough time with losing two years as it is."

"Yes, you're right. But first, like you said, we need to secure the Normandy and rescue the Commander. Do you know how we are going to do either?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I do. We just need a trojan horse."


	13. Beneath the Black Flag 1

**Beneath the Black Flag Story Arc: 3.1**

The bridge of the cargo freighter, _Swan_ , was quiet aside from the noises one would typically expect as the pilot moved through one screen to another as he plotted the next destination jump. The Swan's pilot slouched in his seat, half board out of his mind recheck his calculations. The interface was simplistic, but worse than that, this was a freighter. It was a long way down from the type of craft his skills were the most suited to. Which made doing calculation jumps the most exciting part of his day, which was depressing if he thought about it too much.

The only detraction from his boredom was the occasional look to the insignia displayed on the left side breast of his uniform which identified his current allegiance. Gold on a white and black backing, uniquely identifiable to anyone who directly worked with, or opposed the organization, Cerberus. Catching himself looking at it again, Jeff sighed. Who would have thought he'd end up here, working for the people he helped Shepard shut down two years ago? Then again, Jeff mused, who would have thought the Alliance would have betrayed everything Shepard stood for either? At least Cerberus let him fly. Even if the ship was a piece of shit. That, and so far they hadn't decided he'd be a better fit as a Creeper, or a Rachni snack.

"Mr. Monroe."

Stifling a yawn, the pilot activated the comm line from the ships captain. "Yeah?"

"Mr. Monroe, I have repeatedly asked to you strictly adhere to the proscribed discipline while you are serving on this vessel. A bit more ships discipline wouldn't go amiss, Flight Lieutenant. The proper address is, Sir."

"You don't have to Sir me, Captain. I work for a living."

"Mr. Monroe, you will refrain from such undisciplined behavior on this ship! Now, in the future you will remember to address a superior officer…"

"You know what would help me do that?" Jeff sarcastically asked. "If you let me have access to an extranet connection. I'm missing Maiden's Gone Wild, I was looking forward to it. They're supposed to be shooting from Berkenstein today and those girls really know how to have a good time. You know, if you relaxed a little with some hot girl on girl action, you wouldn't be such a downer."

Jeff smirked at the silence from the com line. That guy was such a prude, it was always fun to mess with his sensibilities. Then again, most of these Cerberus types didn't like aliens, full stop. Making them think about some of the debatched things that some of them got up to was always good for a chuckle.

"Mr. Monroe!"

"Hey, just thinking of ships moral here. You're kind of a joy kill when you're not hiding in your quarters. Ask around, seriously, it's not just me."

Jeff's smirk only lengthened during the short silence that followed. Deciding to add insult to injury, even if Captain-Stick-Up-His-Ass couldn't see it, Jeff took out a chocolate bar and started to unwrap it. He earned it just having to deal with this guy on a regular basis. "Mr. Monroe. How long until we pass through the next relay?"

Mouth half full of chocolate, Jeff easily checked the readout while scratching his bearded cheek. "About an hour. Less if I had an extranet connection. Just talking out loud here."

"Very well, Mr. Monroe. Page me when we have exited the relay and tapped into a buoy so I can update Depot Argos-26 of our expected arrival time."

"Yeah, sure. So, about that extranet connection, because there was this mud wrestling match I was hoping to watch..."

Jeff chuckled when the com line disconnected. "Jackwad."

Destination calculations complete for the moment, Jeff leaned into the stiff pilots chair, happily eating his chocolate bar while looking over the various screens he was allowed to see. That was another thing that soured his mood. These Cerberus guys talked a good game about fighting the good fight, discipline and want not, but when it came to clearances so a guy could do his job, nope. Captain Benosa was the worst so far. Guy practically lived in his quarters where half the ships systems were routed so he could micromanage the crew.

 _I wonder what Cerberus would do if I started a mutiny… Has to be someone on this ship just as sick of that guy as I am. Really, kind of doing the Illusive Man a favor here..._

Even as Jeff daydreamed, his eyes looked outward into the great void. It was for that reason alone, he blinked, rubbed his eyes,looked again, only to blink once more.

Just like out of those old vids he watched as a kid, a ship slowly appeared as if exiting from a wavering mirage. The effect lasted only a few moments before it solidified, resting just off the port bow, slowly approaching as if it was going to dock with The Swan. It wasn't any kind of vessel he was familiar with, but was about the size of a small corvette. Jeff wasn't sure if it was even real, since not only did it just appear out of no where, and wasn't that just a clue someone slipped him something, but it wasn't registering on sensors. For several long seconds he stared disbelievingly as the nose of the ship started to pass by the window allowing him to read the designation along side the nose.

 _Exiled_

 _We most emphatically, do not come in peace._

Every readout started screaming at him at the same time. Suddenly, the pilot was ramrod straight in his chair, hands flying over the controls so fast that had anyone been up here to witness, they still wouldn't have believed how quickly the normally dour pilot assimilated the data before him.

"What the shit? Am I fucking cursed or something? Why am I the one with phantom ships attacking him? What, was I _Hilter_ in a past life or something? Why doesn't this shit happen to anyone else?"

Every readout blared red, locked out. Jeff frantically moved from one screen to the next trying to get access to something, hell anything, but only the buzz of denial from the screens he touched responded. Finally the main screen changed, but that did little to ease the pilots concerns when the ship shuddered from docking clamps engaging. The screen in front of him was a solid black. Centered within, a smirking bone white skull with crossed bones behind it. The iconic image floated there, but the sudden activation of the comm line through the already frazzled Jeff Monroe for another loop.

 _Out on the endless ocean, We tear along the gales_

 _With rum inside our bellies warm, And freedom in our sails_

 _A wayward bunch of scoundrels, Assassins, thieves and slaves_

 _The rich and blue bloods fear us when, We hunt upon the waves..._

Jeff looked around the bridge, shaking his head slowly at the situation he suddenly found himself in. " _What the shit!?"_

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

The heavy door uncoupled, sliding apart to reveal the darkened establishment within. _The Rising Tide_ , wasn't a well known tavern, unless you were in the know. It was, however, one of Liara's favorites during those times when living the life of an information broker, grew to be too much. This was also the place she messaged Garrus to meet her. As she gracefully passed through the entrance, she hoped he was already here. There was so much to do, and very little time to get it all done. Besides, the less time on Illium, the better.

Thankfully, she was right to predict he would arrive before her. Liara moved through the light crowd until she finally arrived at the table where the sometimes surly turian was sitting, back to the corner.

"Hello, Garrus."

The sharp blue, raptor like eyes of her friend looked up. A slight tightening of his mandibles and twitch of his fringe, his species version of a smile, greeted her as she sat in the unoccupied chair in front of him.

"Liara, glad you're alive. I was starting to worry."

"It's good to see you in person as well, Garrus."

"Hmm, yeah, guess I had that coming. Social skills are not a survivability trait one needs on Omega, so mine _are_ a bit rusty." Garrus admitted. "Things went well?"

"Better than I thought they would have, thanks to the people I'm working with now."

"Intresting. So, is this the part where you tell me what's going on, or do I need to play, what was that human game Adams like so much... er, 'Twenty Questions'?"

"Indeed." Liara agreed, smiling softly at her old friend. "Though you should know, I can't talk about any of it here. This is Illium. Nothing openly talked about is safe from discovery."

"Yeah, Illium is just a clean Omega, once you get right down to it. The people just dress better, and smile more when they rob you blind or kill you. So, since the suspense is killing me, where can we talk about this?"

Liara chuckled, Garrus was more right than the rules of Illium would ever admit to. "I know a place, unless you need a moment to get your things?"

"No, I have all I need on me. Spend a year and a half on Omega and you learn to think like a quarian. Everything I own, I keep on me at all times. Less chance of someone stealing it, or sabotage."

It didn't take long for Liara to lead Garrus back to her aircar. She settled herself in the pilot's seat. "If I remember right, you have a quarian on your team, don't you?"

"Yeah." Garrus confirmed as he settled into his seat. "Gren'kel vas Neda."

Liara's hands stilled for a moment over the controls as she winced. "Oh, my. What was his crime?"

The aircar rose smoothly and slotted into the bulging traffic seamlessly as Garrus answered. "He was fooled into buying food sanitizers from a shady volus with ties to some very interesting Batarian pirates. He installed them on the live ship he was a crewmember on. Almost released a plague that bypassed all known sterilisation processes. Had the plot been successful all the pirates would have had to do was board the ship, and fly away with it after spacing the dead. He caught on before it got that far, but he ended up exiled over it just the same."

Liara shook her head. "Despite all that Tali told us about her people, I can still say, I do not understand them."

"Well, Gren's not your typical quarian anyways. Says he doesn't miss the Flotilla much, but I think that's just how he deals with it. I've seen him find wayward quarians on pilgrimage that are stupid enough to come to Omega, and help them. Sort of been his thing, in between our usual. He's a hell of a shot though. Joined up around my second month, been with us ever since. Has a way with small arms that is just unbelievable. A lot of our work wouldn't have gotten done without either his ability to fix our weapons, or modify them. The fact he's almost as good as me with a sniper rifle is a bonus."

"High praise, coming from someone as... notorious, as you are now." Liara playfully jabbed as she adjusted their course for the spaceport. "Did Gren track down the pirates, or the volus after he was exiled?"

Still rubbing the back of his head from Liara's comment, Garrus nodded. "Yeah, which is why he joined up with us, I think. They were operating out of Omega, and were fairly secure, but we got them in the end. Not that I mind sharing, but why so interested in my team? Or is it Gren you are interested in specifically?"

Liara's lips twitched as she fought her smirk at him catching her out. "Bit of both, but I can't say yet. I promise, Garrus, I will just as soon as we get to my shuttle."

"Ominous. I take it we're leaving Illium then? Care to share where we're going?"

"Not yet." Liara replied looking directly at Garrus, the console of the aircar, and then back to Garrus. "Just in case, but soon. I promise."

Garrus nodded understandingly, though she could easily hear the slight warble of agitation in his voice. "Alright."

Neither spoke again for the remainder of their descent. It wasn't, however, a comfortable silence for Liara. therefore it was a welcome feeling once the car settled allowing the roof to raise, allowing both to leave the uncomfortable atmosphere behind them.

Liara walked briskly to her shuttle, and the tan skinned salarian standing next to it. "Salo. Everything aboard?"

"Yes ma'am. Everything from your apartment that you specified has been carefully packaged and moved aboard. As per your requests, extra care was made to make sure little 'extra's didn't follow, but you know how sneaky asari can be."

"I will take that as a compliment, Salo." Liar returned playfully. "Especially from you. Any questions about the next part?"

"No, Dr. T'soni. We know what to do, and we'll be ready when you need us. In the meantime, have a safe trip."

"Thank you. I'm sure we will. I will be out of contact for a few days, maybe a week. I'll contact you as soon as I return from my trip."

"Looking forward to it."

Throughout the exchange, Garrus remained quiet, just watching. Once Salo had started walking away, Liara waved him to enter her shuttle, but before he could speak, she held up her hand, palm upward.

"Glyph."

A little white drone appeared, floating just over her blue palm. "Greetings, Shadow Broker. How may I help you?"

"Status?" Liara asked trying to ignore the way Garrus jumped at the greeting, as well as the look he was giving her.

"All systems are tamper free, Shadow Broker. However, I have registered twenty-three attempts to penetrate our systems, but lack of open extranet connections have limited their ability to gain access. In addition, the cyber counter measure suites provided by Atlas, have done an excellent job of projecting the integrity of our systems. Will there be anything else?"

"Must have not realized this was my shuttle. I usually have to deal with more." Liara chuckled to herself before addressing the little drone. "No, Glyph. Thank you."

"I am at your service, Shadow Broker." Glyph stated before the little drone disappeared.

" _Shadow Broker?_ Spirits, Liara! What is going on?"

Liara wearily sank into the pilots chair. "It has been a very interesting few days, Garrus. In more ways than even I can comprehend. I know you want answers, and I will give them, but it's a bit of a long story."

Garrus's shadow fell over her shoulder, as he leaned far enough to watch her hands over the controls. "Since you're plotting a course for the Sol system, I think we'll have plenty of time for you to tell that story, Liara. Before you start, why there?"

"That actually ties into the story, but the quick answer is, we need to pick up an old friend at the Mars Navy Medical Center." Liara engaged the engines, lifting the shuttle away from the spaceport just as Garrus took the co-pilots seat. "I messaged ahead and she'll be waiting so we can move to our next stop quickly. Right now speed is essential, and we have a long way to go."

"Why do I feel like I being kidnapped?"

"Because that is what I'm doing."

"That would definitely explain it." Garrus sighed. "You know, pretty sure that's illegal, even on Illium."

"While mostly true, I do hold a permit that allows me a certain leeway for up to one week. Assuming, of course, you don't die in my custody or suffer from any long term ailments."

"Of course you do, why am I even surprised?" Liara chuckled but refrained from commenting when Garrus leaned toward her. "I bet you only get a fine if something were to happen to me anyways, so it's probably not even worth being upset about. Seriously, Liara, as long as you explain what is going on, and soon. You know I hate mysteries."

Liara nodded, knowing just how much the ex-Csec agent did, in fact, hate mysteries. "I promise."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

The spires of Nos Astra passed by slowly until the shuttle achieved the safe high for them to go faster, casting everything into a blur as they ascended away from the city's skyline. Once safely heading to the relay, Liara turned once more the turian sitting next to her. Garrus remained watching her steadily, which did nothing for her unease. In away, her position wasn't too dissimilar to Taylor's, not long ago. It took a calming breath before she could begin.

"I… Do… Oh, Goddess, this is so much harder than I thought it would be. Garrus, I have a confession, but I need you to listen and not react."

"Now I'm worried. Nothing good ever came from any sentence that has 'confession' or 'don't react' in it. That is doubly true if they're in the same sentence." Garrus stated guardedly.

"Please, Garrus?"

"Fine, but I'm not promising I won't react, but I won't start yelling, if that is what you're worried about."

Liara nodded, giving the turian a slight smile as she gathered her thoughts. "Do you remember the last time we saw each other, before Shepard's funeral?"

"I remember you weren't there for it, yeah."

"I… couldn't. Both because I couldn't face it, and because I received a tip from a drell named Feron. He found out a mercenary band located Shepard's remains, and were auctioning them to the highest bidder. Apparently they found him before the Alliance could, and once they realized what, or who, they had, they decided they could use him to make a lot of credits. Feron wanted to stop it."

Liara looked out the window of the shuttle, unable to keep looking at Garrus or see the anger in his eyes. She knew it was for both that she didn't tell him before, when it was happening, as well as for the fact it happened at all.

"I wasn't going to let that happen. In the course of events, I learned that Feron was actually an agent of the Shadow Broker. He told me the Broker wanted Shepard's remains to sell to the Collectors, who wanted him for their own reasons. Feron felt it was an affront to all that Shepard believed in and wanted to stop it. Together we did, but at a cost. Feron allowed himself to be captured by agents of the Broker to buy time for me to get away with Shepard. It cost him his life. I spent two years trying to avenge him, but this next part is where I feel you will hate me."

Garrus didn't reply, only continued to stare as she gathered her courage. After a moment to center herself, she turned once more to her friend, hoping he would still be so after she finished. "Just before this point, I was approached by two humans; Miranda Lawson and a Jacob Taylor. They work for Cerberus. Miranda explained that Cerberus was also looking for Shepard's remains, but not to buy or to sell. They were sent by the Illusive Man, for the purpose of retrieving the Commander, to bring him back. In the end I… gave them his body."

"Let me see if I understand this," Garrus very calmly stated. Liara wasn't fooled. His pupils had contracted to bare points, and his fringe was shuffling slightly. That, mixed with how his mandibles were flush against the sides of his face, left no doubts to Liara just how upset Garrus was. "You gave Shepard's remains, to _Cerberus_?"

"Yes."

"Shepard? Our friend, Shepard? You gave _Commander Shepard_ to Cerberus?"

Liara winced, but nodded.

"Are you insane!?" Garrus shouted, making her flinch as well as breaking his promise not to yell. "You know what kind of people they are! Liara, you were there, you saw it yourself. The experiments with Thorian Creepers, Rachni, husks, and Thresher Maws. Liara, you know what they were capable of, and you gave them Shepard?"

"To save him, yes!" Liara shouted back. "Garrus, I had to. If there was even the slimmest chance they could succeed, think about what it would mean! We lost everything when he died. The Alliance and the Council turned their backs to what he uncovered. We _need_ him to rally our people to fight the Reapers.

"Miranda explained to me some of the things they had planned. Some of the techniques are beyond miraculous, cutting edge or even theoretical tech that Cerberus was investing in to make it happen. Some, they already had, or were close to developing, all to bring him back, and it worked. Garrus, they did it, he's alive."

Garrus blinked before shaking his head. After a moment, he seemed to calm down, evidenced by the much lower tone to his voice. "That... Liara, are you absolutely sure you know what you are talking about? It just isn't possible to bring someone back from the dead. Okay, even if I stepped back from the fact you gave our friends remains to a criminal organisation, whose morals I wouldn't trust to tell me if coolant was cold, how do you know? Even if I assumed you're right, and they did something to, animate him, or whatever, how do you know it's really Shepard?"

"I-I don't." Liara admitted, deflating slightly into her chair. "That is part of why I need you with me Garrus. Yes, I gave him to Cerberus. I did it mostly for very selfish reasons, I admit, but also because I believe in the Reaper threat and we need Shepard to win. I would be lying if I said I was absolutely sure that what they have is really The Commander. That is why we're going to Mars, we're going to pick up Karin Chakwas. From there, we're going to meet with Taylor and Steve, then to Lazarus station, to rescue Shepard.

"If… if we get there, and find out it's not really Shepard, that Cerberus created something foul from his remains, I am going to need you with me to fix my mistake."

"You mean kill him." Garrus rough voice grimly mumbled.

"Yes, if it really isn't Shepard, I will need you to help me... kill him." Liara leaned over, taking Garrus three taloned hand with both of hers. "Garrus, tell me you wouldn't have done the same, had you been in my place."

"Spirits, I don't know, Liara," Garrus quietly admitted. "I do know I'm here now, and at the very least, you've convinced me to see this through. I owe it to Shepard, either way this goes."

"Thank you, Garrus."

"Don't thank me yet. If Shepard is really alive, you need to tell him what you did before someone else does."

"I will."

Garrus grunted. "Alright then. So, how does this lead to you being the Shadow Broker, and who is Taylor and Steve?"

"Taylor leads the Exiled. A mercenary group that I couldn't even explain to you if I tried. You wouldn't believe me anyways, but you'll meet them soon. Steve is her XO. Taylor knew about Shepard and she's been driving to free him from Cerberus for some time. It was only yesterday we got the last bit of information we needed to finally find him."

"Exiled? Never heard of them, and I've heard of some really strange merc groups. Most of them come through Omega at one point or another." Garrus mused half to himself. "What's her connection to Shepard? I don't remember any Taylor's from the old Normandy, except for that navigations tech on third watch but somehow I can see her going merc. Least of all for Shepard. Pretty sure she was one of the ones he had to leave behind on the Citadel when we hijacked it before heading to the Mu Relay."

"That is not for me to say, Garrus, but I trust her. She helped me find… _become,_ the Shadow Broker."

"Well, if you trust her then that is good enough for me. I take it that was big thing that brought me to Illium in the first place?"

Liara nodded. "Yes. I wasn't sure of her skills then, and this was the Shadow Broker we were hunting. Even a good mercenary squad normally wouldn't have stood a chance. Just incase we didn't make it, I wanted someone to know what we were doing, and where to go. Thankfully, Taylor's team was more than up to the task, if entirely unconventional. The Broker is dead, and now I control his network. "

Garrus leaned back into his chair, silently. As Liara turned away from the thinking turian, she noticed how close the relay was. A quick check of the chrominer showed they'd been talking for a long time. She quickly checked her calculations but only managed half of her task, before Garrus sudden deep chuckles filled the cabin of their shuttle. Liara raised her eye ridge as she watched the turian smile, apparently laughing to whatever thought was rolling around in his head.

Thankfully it only lasted a few moments before he turned to her and shared what caused his mirth. "You know, even if you hadn't told me Shepard might be alive, I would have known he was somehow involved in this mess. Seriously, a hard to believe or impossible situation and rescue? Mysterious mercs fighting against insane Cerberus plots? Then there's you becoming the most notorious information broker in the galaxy. All of that spinning around the nebulous Reapers who still haven't graced us with their presence. Yeah, this whole mess has 'Shepard' written all over it."

"It does have a certain 'Normandy Ground Team' flavor, doesn't it?" Liara's smile quickly turned into matching laugh as their shuttle continued to approach the colossal mass relay before them.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Uber settled back, eyes dancing between the seven screens in front him allowing him to keep track of the ground team's progress. Not surprising there wasn't much resistance, this was just a freighter, even if it was a Cerberus freighter. Sitting in the chairs on either side of him, Lia and Cessi worked their own screens keeping the countermeasures in place, and effective until Leet locked down the enemy ship's systems.

His foot tapped restlessly as he waited, a nervous habit of his during those few times he wasn't in the mix himself. But for this mission, Matriarch took Vates, Leet, and Gunny, which usually left him manning systems with just Atlas. With Lia and Cessi's help, the job was far easier, which left way too much time to watch the seconds tick with nothing to distract him except for the little sounds the girls made as they worked.

Though, that had the potential to be _too_ distracting.

Uber shook off that thought, instead making a few adjustments to the VI's he was monitoring. A frown appearing on his face as he noticed a misalignment in their coverage. A few taps of the console showed it wasn't a misalignment so much as interference. Someone on that ship seemed to know their way around a com system. Just before he could bring counter it, the com line chimed.

"Huh, either we suck, or they got someone over there with some skills. Cuz, seriously, they all can't be losers. Has to be someone out there who actually knows how to rock their tech." Uber reached over to open the channel. "Greetings and salutations, you have reached Murderous Hobos Anonymous, how may I direct your call?"

"Who are you?!" An older man shouted questioningly.

"I'm sorry, perhaps you didn't hear the 'anonymous' part of our title? I'm prohibited from divulging any of the names of our membership. Was there something else I could help you with?"

"Cease this attack immediately!"

"Man, seems to be a problem with the com line. Didn't you hear the 'Murderous' part either?" Uber asked the frantic voice as he traced the line. He nodded to himself when he found it coming from the crew quarters. "Pretty sure I mentioned the Murderous part. Sort of sets the stage for things, you know?"

"I want to speak to your commander, NOW!"

Uber snorted at the demand eyeing the left hand screen that was tracking the ground team. "Again, I really wish I could help you, but she's unavailable right now, you know, being on your ship, killing all your dudes. If you give her a minute, I'm sure she'll be with you shortly."

Uber couldn't help but smile at his timing. Two loud knocks sounding like the butt end of a pistol slamming against a metal door broke over the com line. "Yeah, that would be her. If you haven't yet, now would be a _great_ time to shit yourself. So, fuck you, and have a nice day."

"Wait!"

Uber cut the connection turning to the figure standing behind him. Paige smiled, handing him a steaming cup of coffee. "Thought you could use a cup."

"Thanks." As he took the cup, he noticed both Lia and Cessi attaching tubes to their suits, each slotted with a liquid feeding line. He returned his eyes to Siren raising his eyebrow as he took a sip.

" _Klah_." Siren answered his silent question. "Has about as much caffeine as coffee, but really sweet like hot chocolate. Well, according to the extranet it's sweet, since I can't drink it to find out. Thought you guys all could use something to nice to drink. It was either that, or _Talisan_ , and I don't think Taylor would be happy with me if I started handing out turian hooch while you guys are supposed to be working."

"Probably not." Uber agreed trying to keep his attention on the screens and not on either the quarians squirming in their chairs making pleased noises over their drinks, or the fact Siren was half leaning next to him also watching his screens. Unable to succeed at either, he looked up noticing Siren smirking.

"You sure you didn't give them the wrong drink?"

"Yup. Sharee labels everything, you know that. Sort of hard to screw that up, but if I did, it would be her fault." Siren said before moving one of the screens over. "What makes you think that anyways?"

"Just wondering." Uber mumbled, sipping his coffee.

Siren nudged his shoulder bringing his attention back upward. Her wiggling eyebrows letting him know she was thinking the same thing about the pleased sounds coming from either side of them.

"I hate you."

"Could be worse."

"I'm afraid to ask what you mean by that."

Siren opened a page to the extranet showing an advertisement. "You could be trapped here trying to work while they're test driving the new 'deluxe' model. I got one on the Citadel for myself, and let me tell you something, _so_ much fun."

It took him a moment to shake that mental image away enough to close the page. "You suck."

"And don't you forget it." Siren heckled him.

Uber chuckled, setting aside the coffee and returning to the task at hand. "You know, one of these days, one of us is going to take you up on those offers."

"Please, if any of you think you can survive the ride, you know where to find me." Siren countered. "Meanwhile, me and my battery operated boyfriend will keep hooking up until I wear him out, or we find some poor, brave soul willing to risk it."

"Don't ever change, Siren." Uber stated, slowly adjusting one of the programs until it was where he wanted it.

"I won't." She replied cheerfully. "How's the raid going?"

Uber brought over two of the screens relevant to her question. "Not bad, actually. These guys are set up for stealth, not a fight. The _Swan_ has a crew of fifteen or so, mostly just nav and engine techs. Leet's got engineering locked down, Gunny's working with Rorrim to find the last two stragglers in the cargo hold. Looks like Vates finished up with crew quarters and is heading up to the bridge."

"Where's Matriarch?"

A quick swipe of his hand brought the relevant screen up in time to hear two loud barks of weapons fire.

"Captain's Quarters."

" _Uber, two tied up here, one down."_ Matriarch stated. " _Leet, sending you the command codes now."_

" _Awesome, got it. I'll start changing things up here. Got two tied up, no dead."_

" _Cool, Gunny?"_

" _All good_ Jefe _. Cargo hold is secure. Six surrendered and tied up, two down."_

" _Copy. Vates?"_

" _Crew quarters done. Three tied up. One tried to jump me but there was only a twenty percent chance he'd have managed it. Even without my power, I knew he was there. His hiding spot sucked."_

" _Where are you, are you hurt?"_

Uber snorted. "I'm surprised she even lets her off the ship half the time."

"Be nice, she's trying." Siren chided him. "Besides, you don't have room to talk. You're just as bad as Matriarch is when it comes to Vates."

" _Heading up to the Bridge now, and I'm fine. Like I said, his hiding spot sucked and he wasn't a biotic."_

" _Alright. Uber, we missing anyone?"_

Uber opened the line. "No ma'am, that's all of them according to my readouts, except for the guy on the bridge."

" _Copy, good work everyone. Vates, wait for me before you enter the bridge."_

" _Alright, but just so you know, I'm already here ."_

"Nice. How much time do I have before the next act?" Siren asked.

"Figure, an hour here to clean up and secure the prisoners, hour to the relay, then three to the Depot. So, five or so."

"Cool, plenty of time to prep then."

Uber tapped the master cape's leg to get her attention, speaking once she was looking at him. "You ready for this?"

"Not the my first mission, Uber. I'll be fine." Siren assured, smiling easily. "I'll have Leet, Gunny, and damn near the whole crew backing me if we get into trouble. It's you guys I'm worried about."

"Don't be. Liara said she's bringing a friend of hers to help. Besides, we're just doing an extraction, you guys have to pull off the grand theft auto of doom."

"Jealous?" Siren teased.

"Fuck yeah! Biggest rig I've ever stolen was that semi back before I joined Renegade and Matriarch. I thought that was awesome, but stealing the _Normandy's_ going to make that look like amature hour. I doubt Matriarchs going to let me try and steal a destroyer to beat it."

"Probably not, though that would have been cool. Assuming you didn't get killed for it." Siren patted the side of his face, smiling smugly for a moment before turning away. "But don't worry Uber, I still think you're awesome."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

I walked to where Vates was waiting for me, next to the sealed doors to the bridge. "I thought you said he 'tried' to jump you?"

"I did."

I reached over, fingering the tear in the robe she wore over her armor. She answered my silent question with a huff as she folded her arms. "So he had knife, my armor protected me."

"Vates…"

"I'm _fine_ , seriously. Look, it didn't even break through the ablative plating!"

I sighed as the cape next to me pulled back her robe to prove her point. "Alright, point made. Do you have much left for vetting the prisoners?"

Vates adjusted her robe while I moved to unlock the door. "I haven't used much of my power today doing this. I should have plenty to work with to help Siren when we get to the station."

"And you'll be careful, _right_?"

"Yes, _Mom_. I'll even wear clean underwear incase I get hit by truck or something."

I froze at her comment, slowly turning to face her. Even with her mask on, I knew she was looking right at me as I stared at her. "Hey, you know I'm not…"

"I know." Vates interrupted as she put her hand on my arm. "But really, you _are_ the closest thing I've had to one since that whole thing with Coil. Aunt Susan didn't get me, and Uncle Roy only cared that I wouldn't join the Wards. I love that you care, that you're always looking out for me, but I'm ready for this. You know my power works best when I'm in the thick of things, higher numbers with less chance that something will interfere with outcomes. Yeah, I can get decent numbers for long views, but in the short view, like here, it works best."

"Yeah, I know." I grumbled as I returned to the lock. "I just wish you didn't feel like you had to do this stuff with us, Vates."

"I don't feel like I have to, I want to. You don't own the monopoly on caring for someone. I worry about you to, and if me being an active member of the team increases the odds of our getting through this crap with all of us alive, that is what I'm going to do. But you know that if I don't start now, I'll do something stupid, like freeze or something when we can't afford for it to happen. This isn't that much different than when you and Renegade where hitting those drug dealers, you know."

I snorted at her simplistic view of our situation, but didn't comment as the door disengaged. The Bridge was small, actually not that different than ours with three chairs. Only a single occupant waited for us, sitting in the middle. He sat slouching in the chair, a hat that sort of looked like a ball cap on his head but instead of a team logo, it was a Cerberus insignia. His face was hidden by a well grown beard, though there was no mistaking the weariness or intelligence in his eyes as he looked first at me, then to Vates.

"What the shit?"

I blinked, completely shocked. Of all the places I expected to run into him, this was about the last place I would have figured. "Joker?"

"Depends." He replied guardedly.

"On what?" Vates asked.

Joker's eyes narrowed, but he answered. "On if I owe you money or not."

"No."

"You going to kill me? Cuz, thats something that's going to seriously affect my answer too."

I answered that one. "Hadn't planned on it."

"Don't suppose you owe me money and this is just your way of saying, hey! You would not believe how hard it was to find you. Here's some credits. Because I could totally excuse just about anything, if that's the case."

 _Same old Joker._ I chuckled, as I shook my head.

"Figures."

"You don't seem to be too worried, considering we just hijacked this ship." Vates pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I figure since you're not pointing a gun at me things might not be as bad as they looked twenty minutes go. Plus, no one who's ever called me Joker ever tried to kill me, well except that one time but I owed him money. Since you said that's not the case here, I figure things might be looking up."

"That depends on just how much you like Cerberus."

"Well, we're not dating or anything, just kind of hanging out. You know, all the cool kids are doing it."

I smiled within my helmet as I took the seat next to him activating my omni tool. After a moment the com line opened showing a very surprised Liara looking back at me.

" _Goddess, you weren't kidding when you said these omni tools had in built QEC's. Incredible."_

"Best part of the tech is that distance isn't a factor. Completely under rated on Bet, for the most part though, but I'm glad we developed the tech anyways." I ignored Jokers jump when he heard Liara's voice. "How are things on your end?"

" _We just arrived on Mars."_

"Cool. Got a moment?" I asked as I looked at Jokers stunned face. "Got someone here who wants to say, 'hi'."

 *****Authors Note**

Alright! As of this posting, we are all caught up. Once again, I look forward to hearing what the readership thinks of the story, and I hope you all enjoy reading it.


	14. Beneath the Black Flag 2

**Beneath the Black Flag Story Arc: 3.2**

Leet waited with Siren and Rorrim as the airlock finished its cycle. While the procedure only took a few moments, it still seemed to take an incredibly long time to complete. He took a moment to gauge how the girls were faring, seeing them relaxed for the most part. Well, about as relaxed as he expected they would be considering they were wearing Cerberus uniforms about to initiate a heist the likes of which topped the Bulgarian job.

His lips slowly widened as he remembered the uncontrollable cascade of events that happened to them, back then. Good times. He really could have done without the sunburn though...

The door opened revealing three people. The guys in the back held assault rifles loosely, but steady in their hands while an older guy stood just a bit in front looking Leets party over. Getting back into character he squashed his inner amusement and straightened his posture to something a bit more formal than his usual stance..

"I am Commander Richards. Welcome to Depot-Argus Twenty-six."

Siren stepped forward, a winning smile more than a few guys on Bet never stood a chance in resisting, on her face as her mouth moved silently. Leet had a good idea what she was saying but whatever it might have been was lost to the filtering tech everyone was wearing, except for Siren. It was weird, the first few times they ran this scam back on Bet, but by this point it didn't even phase Leet. Instead, he watched the eyes of the stations spokesman. It was there that the first indication of Siren's power showed. Leet had to suppress the reemergence of his smirk as almost immediately that guy's eyes started softening, looking slightly glassy. A quick check to the two behind him showed the same effect taking place.

"Excellent." Richards stated as he took the datapad from Siren. "I don't see any problem there, of course your tech can install the upgrade. I'll just notify the _Normandy_ to expect him."

"Ah, yes I can see how that would complicate things. My personal command codes will allow that."

"Of course, I'll send them now, and no, I don't see that as a problem."

"A superb idea, I think the crew would enjoy that."

"Just for the station? I don't see that as a problem."

"Not an issue, I'm very aware of where all monitoring devices are located."

"Of course, why I don't I send that information to your associate so they may see to that detail?"

"A tour? Absolutely, and thank you for thinking of our sleeping team mates. I'll send Mr. Pratchett along to make sure everyone is assembled. What would you like to see first?"

"The CIC, of course. While we might not be as well equiped as say, Arcturus Station, I think you will be impressed with our operations, Ms. Morris. Shall we?"

Siren easily took Richards arm while matching his stride as they walked away. The two mooks holstered their weapons before they also turned around, keeping pace behind the duo.

"So broken." Rorrim muttered next to him.

"Right?" Leet snorted. "And I say that being a tinker. That had to have been the best thirty-five k' spent, _ever_. Seriously makes me glad she's on our side. Can you imagine the fate of Earth Bet had she decided to use her power like Heartbreaker?"

"Don't even joke about that, Leet." Rorrim whispered with a shudder. "Heartbreaker's power over women was just sick. That he used it to create a harem of amoral sex dolls, was beyond disgusting. Siren may joke about stuff, but she'd never rape anyone, or make them do the horrible things he did to those women. You know how I feel about some of the stuff we do, Leet, but the day we killed Heartbreaker, I slept like a baby."

"Shit, I hear that. Guy had it comin for a long time even before he set his sights on trying to control Matriarch and Vates. I was just sayin', you know?"

"I know." Rorrim answered.

"Well, we'd best go get our part done. It's the only loose thread that could screw us."

Leet walked confidently toward the open ramp that would take them to their objective. Rorrim nodded, falling in step. It didn't take the pair very long to board the Normandy or to cross through the cargo deck to summon the elevator. "Are you sure he's going to be okay?"

Leet pushed the indicator to take them to the crew deck. "Atlas tested and approved. "

"I know, I just… don't like this."

"Uber, Matriarch and I, along with Cessi and Lia ran our own tests. Three times. We showed you the results."

Rorrim grudgingly nodded. When the elevator doors opened she again followed Leet as he led the way. Thier destination as clear as the large white letters on the wall beside her, Med Bay. "I know, doesn't help me feel better about it."

"He'll be fine, you know. Matriarch isn't going to let anything happen to him."

Leet's compassionate assurance was rewarded by a knowing smile on Rorrim's face. "I know, she dotes on him almost as much as I do, but I'm a mother, I'm going to worry, whether I want to or not."

"There was no way we could bring him on the mission, Rorrim. Not with Siren in play and we needed your power in case something here messed up the script. Besides, once we get through this stretch, you can relax more. Alex is going to be way happier here, on the _Normandy_ , than he is on the _Exiled._ More safe areas." Leet assured her as they reached the door sitting at the back of the room. "That, and I don't see us needing to split up like this again since we'll have shuttles! Man, I can't wait to get my hands on one to tinker with. Did you see the two downstairs? So many possibilities."

"You just miss the Trident." Rorrim teased as she poked Leet in the side, getting a slight jump from the tinker.

Taking a knee next to the wall of computing hardware that housed their objective, Leet nodded. "Loved that ship. Ugly as fuck, but so handy when the _Exiled_ was just overkill, or too eye catching. The cool thing about our set up now, is that the _Normandy_ can carry a few vehicles, unlike the _Exiled_. Think I could talk Matriarch into letting us get a Mako? Plenty of space down there and Renegade said those things rocked."

"Did he tell you the same stories he told me?" Rorrim asked while narrowing her eyes at the kneeling tinker. "Because in no way shape or form did any of those stories imply that thing was anything but a poorly designed menace."

Before Leet could reply, a holographic pop up appeared in front of them comprising a blue sphere on a slightly inverted base. "Hello. I am the Normandy's Enhanced Defence Intelligence. The crew often refer to me as, EDI. May I ask what you are installing into my servers?"

"Sure." Leet replied as he raised the small device retrieved from his thigh pouch, clamping it to EDI's server housing.

"What are you installing into my servers?" EDI promptly asked.

"A containment drive." Leet pushed the indicator in the center of the device, instantly plunging the room into darkness. Rorrim couldn't see him, but Leet looked up at her anyways. "Actually based this on the one Renegade made for Dragon, but it's like the 2.0 version after it was augmented by Atlas. Even I was surprised with how well it came out."

"She's going to be okay, right?" Rorrim asked as the lights flickered slightly.

"I have control." Atlas's voice broke into the room just as the lights returned to full power. "There are several hardware blocks that are going to need to be removed, Leet. Here, as well as in Engineering before I can fully integrate into the Normandy's systems."

"Awesome, I'll take care of it. How's EDI?"

"EDI is currently contained, and unharmed."

"That's good." Rorrim commented as she took the device from Leet. "Want me to set her up over here, Atlas?"

"Yes please. I look forward to talking with EDI while preparations for departure are completed."

"That would be nice. Let her know this isn't personal, but with the Cerberus scripts compelling her to obey them, we didn't have much choice but to take her prisoner."

"I will fully inform EDI of the situation as well as our plans going forward that are not classified." Atlas assured the thinker.

"Hopefully, she's not the kind to hold a grudge, but I think we're going to have that problem with a lot of the guys we're kidnapping today." Leet muttered as he activated his omni tool. "Gunny, time to set up. Vates, get the prisoners ready. Lia, Cessi, standby with the drones for the salvage OP. Siren, showtime."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

The stations command center consisted of a multitude of terminals, a maned crew of eight, within a circular room. Siren stood humming to herself as she looked over the display in front of her checking different systems and information banks for spoils. A pleased smile on her face as she adjusted a one time on a list before she addressed the man hovering to her right. "This is perfect, thank you Michael. Something I just noticed, there are thirty eight people on the station, right?"

Her guide nodded easily. "Correct. We haven't needed a larger work force for some time now."

"Okay. You know, that's still a lot of people to fit into the mess hall. How about we set up in the loading bay? I'm sure the crew of the _Swan_ wouldn't mind a chance to stretch their legs and that would give us a chance to talk to everyone at the same time."

"An excellent idea, Ms. Morris. I will let Mr. Pratchett know immediately."

"Wonderful. Paul?"

The man sitting across from her station turned in his chair when he heard his name. "Ma'am?"

"How are we doing on communications?"

"Everything in station is set to receive your broadcast." Paul reported immediately. "I included omni tools address as well since you were concerned someone might miss out on your performance."

"Oh, how thoughtful. That was nice of you to think of that. What about signals leaving the station?"

"No ma'am. We are completely dark right now, no signals leaving and all access to the extranet has been rescinded and locked out, per your request."

"Wonderful, you've been a big help, Paul. Thank you very much."

The cape turned away from the blushing young man, turning to face a dark redheaded woman in her thirties at her left. "How long until everyone's assembled, Jessica?"

"Twenty minutes, Ma'am."

"Okay. By the way, who did your hair? It's really nice but I can't see Cerberus having a hair stylist just lying around on a super secret space station."

Jessica smiled, her hand raising upward as she answered. "Thank you. My friend Lisa did it this morning before our shift. It's generally frowned on, but Lisa's a follower on Surin's advice column. That's where she found the instructions for this style. According to the posts, this style was something unmarried quarian girls usually wore, back before the Morning War. It's similar to a french braid, with the notable difference being the pattern, knots, and the circlet."

"It's pretty." Siren noted appreciatively. "Vates and Matriarch have long hair, I bet they would love something like that. Stylish, and yet, very functional. Why is it frowned on? You can't tell me Cerberus really cares that much about fashion."

"Well, its more to do with the fact that Surin is an asari, and the style's quarian." Jessica replied while pointing one of the techs sitting across the room. "Really its not that big a thing since it's only people like Commander Richards who get upset about it, but we usually keep it quiet to avoid the hassle. Lisa and I don't really buy into our groups dynamic, but Cerberus pays really well for skilled technicians. Both of us are colony raised, so you can imagine we're not exactly well established in credits, and college was expensive while the job markets available to us were very limited."

Siren looked to the man in question. "Commander?"

"I do run a tight station." Richards admitted blandly. "While I have nothing personal against Ms. Surin, I am not fond of the havoc alien influences have had on human concerns. While hair care might seem a trivial issue, it is through that crack other influences rush through. The line has to be drawn somewhere."

"Hmm, spoken like a true Space Nazi. You shouldn't think that way." Siren chided as she turned to the tech Jessica pointed out a moment ago. "Lisa, right? Think I can talk you into doing my hair like that?"

The brunette technician smiled. "Sure. Right now?"

"Please." Siren confirmed as she took off her hat. "But please be careful of my feathers, I haven't clipped them in a while and they're a bit sensitive."

As Lisa moved behind her to work on the braid, Siren accessed the terminal in front of her. The others in the room returned to previous tasks, which mostly consisted of keeping the lockout in place, and letting the stations crew know to gather on the loading deck. For her part, Siren moved carefully from one screen to another, checking inventories of various items, and marking a few that were of interest. Those she sent to Lia and Cessi's omni tools. Other items of interest, such as logs about Cerberus operations and such, she sent to Leet's. She continued to hum, occasionally breaking out into non lyrical songs, as she worked until her own omni tool beeped at her.

 _Leet: Showtime._

Siren smiled. "Are we ready, Commander Richards?"

"Yes ma'am. Everyone is assembled and waiting."

"Lovely."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Siren stood at the front, the three highest ranking officers on the station in chairs just behind her. Vates watched her mouth move, knowing she was talking but being unable to hear. So weird, but she knew that without the filtering tech, she would have be just as spellbound as all the Cerberus guys sitting in front of Siren.

Instead of focusing on that, Vates moved through the lanes of the crowd. She focused on each person she passed for a moment, after checking the data pad in her hands. Those whose names matched the list, Vates took one of the stickers from her board, and put them on that person. A few others received a different one, and of those left, even fewer got any of the last kind. No one questioned her actions until she was practically done.

"Um, excuse me ma'am."

Vates pulled back her hand from placing the sticker on the woman in front of her as she turned to the older man sitting in the next seat. "Yeah?"

"Just a quick question, but why did you put a gold star on Gabby?" The man asked in his rich scottish brogue.

"Gabriella…"

"You're Kenneth Donnelly, right?" Vates asked instead of answering his question.

"Er, yes? I mean, yes ma'am, I am."

Vates peeled another of the gold stars away from the board, sticking it on Kenneth. "Well, to answer your question, I put a gold star on _both_ of you, because you're on my list. People on my list, get gold stars."

"I think what Kenneth means is, what do the different stars signify?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, aside from what I mentioned, a gold star almost guarantees you a spot on the Normandy."

"But, me and Gabby are already assigned to the Normandy. We are engineers." Kenneth pointed out.

Still smiling, Vates nodded. "Yup, and that's why you get gold stars, because you're coming with us when we leave."

Kenneth blinked, looking a bit confused, though that could also have been from him trying to pay attention to the conversation, as well as whatever Siren was saying. Gabriella also seemed to have having that problem but it didn't stop her from asking her next question. "And the silver ones?"

"Possible spots, but I won't know for sure until tomorrow, or the next day, so they're coming with us too." Vates explained to the confused pair. "Bronze won't be, they're taking a shuttle."

"Oh." Kenneth muttered. "So, what about the one's who don't get a star?"

"They're staying behind." Vates smile wilted slightly, but wasn't noticed by either sitting in front of her. "I should get back to this. Don't worry though, I'm sure Siren will let you guys know what's going to happen next. Just pay attention, you'll see."

Vates moved down the line, letting the two engineers go back to listening to Siren. No one else from the station, or the _Swan,_ questioned her allowing her to complete her task in short order. She only paused long enough to look at Siren and nod, before heading to the Normandy trying to ignore the migraine that was throbbing behind her eyes.

Once up the ramp, she noticed Gunny finishing setting up the detention cells they were going to need within the cargo hold for those they were taking with them. All temporary until she had the chance to rest so she could fully vet them, or disqualify them. Not exactly a great way to recruit, but Vates knew better than most, just how important the mission was. While taking risks was sort of SOP for them, taking stupid risks wasn't and anything that jeopardized her surrogate family, qualified as a stupid risk in her book.

Lost in her thoughts as she was, she never noticed when Gunny walked up to her until his hand rested on her shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah," Vates lied, turning to the crowd still sitting in front of Siren. Lots of nodding along had Vates wondering which song she was doing. Judging by the way Siren was swaying back and forth, probably not one of the faster pace ones. "I'm okay."

"You don't look okay."

"Mig-, um, Gunny?"

"Yeah, chicka?"

"Tell me I'm not a bad person for not giving everyone a star."

"That depends." Vates finally turned, seeing the concerned look on his face as he continued. "It depends on whether anyone who didn't get one, deserved one or if you didn't miss anyone when you were checking them."

"I checked everyone, twice." Vates returned. "I-I didn't want to mess up."

"Then you're not a bad person." Grunny stated confidently.

"It doesn't feel that way." Vates argued, turning once more the sitting people across the room.

"I know," the muscular spaniard sighed, bringing Vates attention back to him. "You remember back when Matriarch got hurt? The Bakuda fight, when she lost her arm."

Her body shivered, "Don't remind me. One of worst days of my life. I was so worried about Ta- I mean, Matriarch."

"Yeah, I didn't know her personally then, but that was just about the time I joined. I'd been trying to find an 'in' with the team for a while by that point, but it wasn't until a day after that happened that I got my shot."

Slightly confused, Vates asked, "What does that have to do with what's happening right now?"

"Hear me out. See, Renegade found me, sort of like he found Imp, by back tracing my attempts to get in contact with Matriarch. We met in this bar way out on the east side. So, we're talking, you know? And I'm telling him about what I could bring to the team when he changes things on me and starts asking questions about what brought me looking for them in the first place. Which was a hard thing for me, because I was still hurting and angry about losing me _familia_. But he keeps _pushing_ until I tell him and I like, I start falling apart because of what I let happen to them, how I failed them.

"So then, Renegade starts talking about himself and some of the things he'd seen and done. The good, and the bad, and it's crazy shit. I mean some of the things he told me were completely loco, but I listened. After he was done, he says to me, 'There are two kinds of soldiers. Both will go looking for a fight, and both will kill. The difference between them is what they fight for, and why.'

"So I asked him about Matriarch's fight with the city's gangs, what kind of fight was that? And he tells me, 'the necessary kind.' You see?"

"No, I don't." Vates answered confused.

"Part of what we do, is things like this. It's not nice, pretty, or heroic. Sometimes it's bloody, or messed up, but it's not really villainy either. What it is, is _necessary._ That's what Renegade was trying to tell me back then. What I fight for, and why I fight should only be for a better future, not just for me, but for all the good people out there, like my family, who either can't fight or don't know how." Gunny put his arm around Vates, pulling her into a one arm embrace as he continued. "It's the difference between a good soldier, and a bad one."

"I don't feel like a good soldier," Vates mumbled into Gunnys chest armor where her head rested. "Much less like a good person."

"The good ones never do." Gunny softly whispered.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

I sat in my chair, leg bouncing nervously, as I tried to keep my thoughts from scattering in a hundred different directions. We had arrived well ahead of schedule and were waiting for Liara to meet up with us, but it was a long transit from Sol to here. Which meant _waiting_. While I had a love/hate relationship with waiting that, at best, resulted in grudging tolerance of each other, being this close to achieving our goal had me practically ready to sever ties. Preferably with murder. Okay, preferably with _a lot_ of murder.

"That is not relaxing."

The voice distracted me enough to focus on the figure in front of me. Leaning slightly forward in his chair, Steve shook his head. I blinked a couple of times as I realized he'd been trying to get my attention for a while. "What?"

"You need to stop. I mean full stop. Seriously, you're starting to freak me out here, and considering how long we've been running together, that says something. Put. The. Bugs. Down. Slowly step away from the bugs. I promise you they will still be there later."

Finally catching on, I frowned. "We still need-"

"You _need,_ to fucking chill. You walk into that station like this and everything is going to go to shit. Man, you know that better than I do."

Until his statement I hadn't realized just how focused I'd been on my connection to my bugs. Busted, I deflated slightly, willing my bug drones to return to their docking ports. The rest of my arsenal I sent to their habitats and away from the multitude of projects I had them doing. "I know."

Steve nodded understandingly as I slouched into my chair. "Alright, call it then."

Grudgingly I looked at my hand. "Eight."

"Go fish."

I reached for the small folding table between us pulling a card from the deck. "Crap. Why aren't we playing Rummy again?"

"Because I can count cards and you decided that if you're going to lose, you'd rather lose at Go Fish than Rummy." Steve replied easily. "Two."

I pulled the sole duce from my hand, giving it to the cheating thinker. "Right, I remember now."

Steve chuckled while he arranged his cards. Once he seemed satisfied with the new structure, he brought his eyes back to mine. "Seven. We still got hours to kill, if this isn't working for you we can try something else, but you seriously need to relax."

"In all honestly, it won't matter." I confessed. "Go fish."

"I get that being this close makes the waiting worse, but there isn't much we can do about that right now." Steven said, pulling a card from the deck. "Or is it how quiet it is?"

I knew he was referring more to the fact it was just the two of us than any literal sense of the word. Considering the volume of the music coming through the speakers, I _hoped_ this wasn't his definition of quiet anyway. The song playing at the moment was fast paced, no lyrics which meant it was a score from one of his games. It wasn't bad if similar to a lot of the music he chose for his half of the playlist. Completely different than those I picked which tended to be more somber, reflecting my mood I guess. With the player set to randomly pick, we ended up with a rather bipolar playlist that tended to flip flop more than the shoe of the same name. Funnily enough, it fit my current state considering how much difficulty I was having trying not to think about the task ahead, or prepare for it, or check our equipment, or -again- go over all the things that still needed doing...

"I don't know. Maybe." I sighed as I lowered my cards. "No, it's not the quiet so much as I was just thinking about all the stuff that brought us to here. Steve, do you regret any of it?"

"That's not vague." Steve mumbled as he lowered his own cards.

"Just, you know, any of it? The life, or whatever." I clarified unhelpfully.

Steve leaned back after setting down his cards. "Well, glad you cleared that up. Like what, joining up? You didn't give us much choice in the matter. If I remember correctly our options were join, or become a human Happy Meal for a couple of thousand bugs. The Wards fucked me up enough I couldn't have fought off a half drowned cat in a sack. Back then, Greg wasn't much of a fighter and it wasn't like we were geared up for it. Kind of an easy choice to make."

"You know I wouldn't have actually done that, right?"

"Yeah, _now_ , but back then? Back then I didn't know shit." Steve answered. "Best thing that ever happened to me was making the mistake of pushing you to far and getting recruited. The way things were in Brockton Bay, Greg and I would probably be dead right now otherwise."

"I doubt that. You guys have always found a way to keep just ahead of things before. Neither of you are stupid. Childish and a bit insane, but not stupid." I teased.

"Hey, you don't want to play the insane card. You're crazier than I am by an order of magnitude, and that says something, cuz I'm fucking nuts."

Despite my thoughts, I snickered at his apt comment, even nodding to his point. "True, but I guess that's kind of the point. So, regrets?"

"Well, wouldn't have minded sleeping with Miss Militia-"

"You and a quarter of the population of Brockton Bay." I rolled my eyes. "I'm being serious here."

"So am I." Steve returned. The dirty smirk and wiggling eyebrows were overkill but actually got me to laugh.

"Seriously, Steve. After Leviathan and things settled down-"

"That was like, what? A week before we had to go back?"

"Okay, that little bit of drama aside-"

"Little drama? Is that how you remember it? Because I remember something completely different. Do I need to get the video? Cuz, I got it, not that Brockton Bay ever forgot the day the _Exiled_ appeared over the city and started firing."

"It was just to make a point-" I started to say before he cut me off again.

"Oh yeah, you made your point alright. Do _not_ fuck with Matriarch because she'll drop your ass so hard archeologists a thousand years from now will find the imprint and say, 'Holy shit, who did _that_ guy piss off' and 'Man am I glad who ever did that shit is _dead_ '." Steve laughed.

"Now you're making it to be a bigger thing than it was." I groused. "I admit I got a little… medieval and might have overplayed things, but you can't argue that it was effective."

Still chucking, Steve shook his head. "That's one way to put it. Another way would be that you went off your nut and decided to make an example of the first idiot to go after Dinah."

"I don't remember you complaining at the time," I huffed, narrowing my eyes at the thinker across from me. "I distinctly remember your idea was something far more grandiose. Something about skeet shooting Merchants and using them for live ammo training over the Atlantic?"

"Hey, we needed to work out the issues with the targeting matrix anyways!" Steve argued before he lost it and started laughing which got me to laughing again. It took while before either of us settled down. By that time the song playing had switched out for one from my selection, one of Paige's more somber numbers that I hadn't heard in a while.

After listening for a few moments, I shook my head, last vestiges of good humor leaving me. "What the hell's wrong with us, Steve?"

"Just shit." He half answered, half deflected. "Cape shit does that to people and we weren't exactly in a good place back then. Way too much anger with way too much tech. You said it yourself when you told us about your idea to go into hiding. You saw the writing on the wall before any of us. We all agreed with you that it was go into exile, or take over, and who the fuck wants that job? Man, can you imagine the paperwork?"

I nodded to his point. "Lisa didn't seem to mind it. Actually, I think she enjoyed it."

"Different strokes for different folks." Steve stated neutrally. I nodded to his point but remained quiet. Steve continued when he realized I wasn't going to. "Besides, that day was us at our worst. Leviathan wasn't even cold when Skidmark took one hit too many and decided to make his play. We just lost Shepard and Chatika, and dropped off Dinah. Even Paige was foaming at the mouth when that shit went down, and you know what her plan was. The only reason she didn't do it was only a tenth of the city had power and there was no way to broadcast her voice over the whole city without that. Of all the over the top and vicious plans we came up with, yours had the least long range consequences, you know."

"I know."

"Besides, we only did that stuff a few times. What about all the other things we did? Like all those terrorists we dealt with? Or the their financial backers that we robbed blind? Not only did we make a small fortune doing that, but we cut down on them being able to hurt people. Also, don't forget all the little people we helped. Like that village that almost got murdered when that volcano erupted and we stopped the lava flow from letting them get away.

"Hell, I'll do you one better and bring up all those people we helped here and there who had local problems with capes not keeping to civility? Don't even make me bring up all the times we ran disaster relief for Endbringer Events. We saved a lot of people during that time just running supplies until the Protectorate could pick up the slack."

I smiled. I _had_ forgotten about that stuff, and there were a lot more moments where we helped people than we hurt them. "True but-"

"But, you still regret shit." Steve finished for me.

I shrugged. "Not the helping people stuff or even the what we did to protect Dinah. Over the top or not, I like to think we saved more lives than we took. We were always careful to make sure our counterstrikes were surgical to keep civilian involvement out if it, or at least to a minimum. After we did our thing general villainy was non existent in the city for a long time. Hell, general crime plummeted in the city after one of our runs according to Sharee."

"Alright, so if not that stuff, what's got you like this?"

After a few false starts, I finally managed to to articulate the thought that had been bothering me. "Just… Thinking about back then, and the bad stuff we've done. I mean, yeah, we managed to do some good, but we did a lot of bad too. Like that fuck up in Mexico."

Steve slouched at my reminder. "Oh man, you had to bring up Mexico. I'd forgotten all about that. Man, how were we supposed to know the President wasn't dirty? Every bit of evidence we had said he was."

"That was the point. We got played and ended up with a kill team hunting us non stop for several weeks. We're just lucky we were able to lose them in LA otherwise we'd never made it back to the ship. Paige has come a long way but she could barely avoid hitting a mountain back then, much less bring the _Exiled_ close enough for us to get aboard without compromising it. Things might have been different had we had Atlas back then, but we didn't. Another couple of days like we had and that would have been it. We'd have been done. Really, when you sit down and look at it, it's really unbelievable we're still alive."

"Yeah, I can see your point." He reluctantly admitted. "I also remember you said something similar once, back when you decided you needed a break."

I nodded, remembering. "Yeah. I tried, Steve. I really did, but it just… felt _fake_. Like something was missing or that it wouldn't last. I kept looking over my shoulder and even during those moments when I managed to forget, I still felt on edge. Like I should have been doing more, or even doing _something_. It makes me wonder if I'll ever be able to stop or, you know, settle down. Now we're here, and we have this whole thing with the Reapers to deal with, you know?"

"We'll figure out a way to kill the Reapers." Steve pointed out understandingly. "As for that other stuff, that was then. Now we're here, and we're here to stay. Like I said, we're going to win this thing, and when we do, you can figure out the small stuff."

"You say that like it's going to be easy." I chuckled mockingly. "Sebastian did it, but I dont know how. I know it wasn't easy and had something to do with a Prothean super weapon called the 'Crucible'. Even then, Sebastian wasn't around long enough to see the results of what it did, so it's entirely possible he might have lost."

"Yeah well, okay but now he's going to have us, and we're bullshit." I looked up smiling at the smirk on Steves face. "Besides, we have some time. Who knows what you'll remember between now and then? Even if you don't remember, or we dont find out about it elsewhere, we'll find a way to win. You'll see."

"I hope so. I mean, it's the plan anyways. Assuming we don't get killed and actually do win this thing, What about you?"

"What? Like, me settling down or something? Wife, house and mini me's?" I nodded watching as he leaned back. A soft smile on his face as he thought about it.

"Yeah. I mean, I always figured I'll settle down some day. Can't be a villain forever, you know? Not sure about putting down 'roots' unless it's a kick ass place though. Well, maybe after I do some spacing, or maybe do something like Greg and I did on Bet with a website, just without the villainy. I'm sure there's other stuff I can get into that people will pay to see." Steve nodded to his own points before bringing his full attention back to me. "First we have to kick the Reapers in the balls, but yeah, you know, someday. Maybe after I find the right girl. Someone who can keep up, or at least, keep me on my toes."


	15. Beneath the Black Flag 3

**Beneath the Black Flag Story Arc: 3.3  
**

"They're aboard."

I nodded. "Okay. I need to finish this up, would you bring them up here, please?"

Steve spun his chair enough to climb out of it. "Sure."

"Thanks."

As Steve passed by, I put a couple of extra bugs on him so I could tag Liara and Garrus. Steve shuddered slightly when he noticed, but I wasn't trying to be subtle about it. I followed his progress as I finished the message I was composing, sending it once I read it through again to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything.

Message sent, I finally leaned back into the chair. So close. We were so close now to getting this thing done. Despite the fact that getting Sebastian was only the start of what was coming down the line, it still felt as if we were crossing a huge milestone. Now I just needed to figure out a way to convince the guys...

Urz's muzzle nudging my arm broke my train of thought. A quick look to the old varren showed him sitting on his haunches next to me, head tilted as his bobulous eyes stared at me. Taking the hint, I chuckled softly letting my hand drift over.

"Hey, boy. What's got you wandering around?" I asked. Since the team split up, I'd gotten used to him hanging out in front of Alex's stasis pod. I think this was the first time I'd seen him anywhere else.

Urz didn't reply, just shuffled closer so that his head was next to my chair, pointing to where Steve disappeared to. I puzzled over his behavior before I heard the voices coming our way.

"Ah. Not used to strangers on the ship, um?" I asked noting how various muscles under his scaly hide bunched, then relaxed rhythmically. "Be good, they were expected, alright?"

Urz responded in a soft croon, which surprised me. I didn't even know he was capable of such a noise. However, Steve returning with our new house guests derailed my thoughts.

Steve entered the room first, walking past me to lean up adjusting the wall with his arms folded. While he didn't look upset, he didn't look exactly happy. The reason for his unhappiness might have been the hulking turian in full combat armor and weapons that walked behind Liara. More that he was armed, I think, than the turian himself. We generally didn't carry on ship with Alex around, so I could sort of see his point. A pretty safe bet that was his concern, since I couldn't see how the older human woman trailing the group could have concerned him. Neither she nor Liara were armed.

The turian's sharp blue eyes took in the room quickly, never fixing on anything. It was more how his eyes darted around the room, than the fact they did, that clued me into what he was doing. That being tactical assessment. Seeing where the cover was, where concealed threats were most likely, more than just taking in our decor. At least, until his eyes fell on Urz and me. Well, more Urz than me. The huge varren was still sitting beside me, and unless I was completely off my game, eyeing the armed newcomer with just as much attention as was being paid to him.

"Taylor." Liara greeted.

"Liara. Introductions?" I asked, rising from my chair.

"Yes, of course. Taylor Hebert, Dr. Karin Chakwas."

Chakwas was an older woman that I'd have put around forty or fifty, if I met her on Bet. Of course, in a way that was deceiving considering what Sharee told me about what current galactic medical technology could do for the average human's lifespan. I knew one thing, I could only hope to look as good she did when I reached her age. Aside from her hair being a stately grey, she still looked and carried herself with a sureness of a much younger person. Her smile was welcoming as she took my artificial hand without usual hesitation I was accustomed too. It confirmed a lot of what I remembered about her.

"Dr. Chakwas, nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you through a mutual friend. Said you were the kind of ships surgeon that made other surgeons feel inadequate. Best in the entire Alliance Navy, he told me."

"Oh? Must not have been anyone I've treated." Chakwas chuckled. "They tend to sing quite a different tune once they've taken a turn through my medical bay."

"He's was a patient of yours a time or two and might have mentioned you were rather, forceful, in keeping 'foolhardy marines' in line." I replied before turning my attention to the turian next to her.

Taking the hint, Liara continued. "Garrus Vakarian."

Without missing a beat I took the, reluctantly I noted, taloned hand Garrus extended. Nothing in his expression clued me in to if that hesitation was for me personally, or my arm.

"Good to finally meet you Garrus. I've heard a lot about you as well."

He didn't reply immediately, just looked at me. Judging by the way his mandibles flexed along the side of his face, I wasn't making a great impression. It wasn't hard to understand why. Knowing I was going to need to be in my armor before too long, I wasn't exactly dressed to impress in my thigh length shorts and white tanktop. Not that Steve was dressed much better than I was in jeans and t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off. In contrast, Garrus's armor was impeccable, as if it was serviced only that morning. Considering who this was, it might have been.

"You must be joking." Garrus mumbled, though still loud enough for me to hear.

"Fraid not, Garrus." I said. "Not what you were expecting?"

"I can honestly say, I was not expecting… _you_. No offence, but you hardly look like the leader of Liara's band of 'unorthodox yet highly professional mercenaries'."

"You don't strike me as the anti-human type, Garrus." I noted. "So, is that comment because I'm younger than you are, or because I'm a woman?"

"Tread carefully dude." Steve cautioned good-naturedly. "There's no right answer to that question."

Liara smirked as Dr. Chakwas turned to Garrus, raising a long eyebrow as she waited for his answer. Seeing the mindfield he inadvertently landed himself in, he took the only option he had available to him.

"Ah, neither." He verbally backpedaled. "Just the way she praised your efforts with handling things with her, _problem_ , I was sort of expected something… _more_."

"Fair enough." I gave, understanding his concern. It wasn't like it was an unpopular opinion after all. Half of our successes back on Bet were because of that very reason. "You wouldn't be the first person to underestimate me. Is this going to be a problem, or are we going to be able to work together for the mission?"

"I guess we'll see."

"I can't ask for more than that." I said, turning my attention to Liara. "We still need to iron out how we're going to do this. Especially considering the difficulty in getting two non humans through a Cerberus facility without lots and lots of violence. With most of my people in the field, I don't have enough stealth tech for all of us. While I'm not opposed to violence, I think we all would rather the violence started _after_ we have our targets. With that in mind, we have about an hour to plan before we need to get ready. Why don't you guys grab a seat and I'll show you where we're at?"

Before I sat down, my terminal chimed. While the others found seats, I found a message in my inbox. I opened it giving it a quick read as Steve asked if anyone wanted anything to eat or drink.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

The door opened, revealing a rather spartan office. Everything about it was 'functional' with nothing in the way of personality, either for the room itself, or for the woman sitting behind the desk. He was never sure if that was because the 'Ice Queen' didn't have a personality of her own, other than 'bitch', or because she couldn't be bothered with such small details like furnishings. He did note that this trait didn't apply to her wardrobe. Not that anyone had a choice _but_ to notice that fact. A running joke among some of the braver techs was whether she put on that catsuit in the mornings, or if she somehow poured herself into the thing. If not for her attitude, it would have done a lot for morale. As it was, no one sought her out unless they absolutely had to. Eye candy alone wasn't worth being verbally emasculated every time you talked to her.

"Miranda, we need to talk."

Miranda's hands continued to fly across her terminal uninterrupted. "What is it Wilson? I'm rather busy at the moment."

Wilson neither expected an invitation to enter, nor received one, but he walked in anyways. "I have a problem."

"If this is about the K-5335 test trial, forget it. I told you on Monday, it won't work. The likelihood of an aneurysm is still too high, even if it's only twenty percent."

"No, it's not that. Besides, I ran my own tests and found you were right. While I still think it would work short term, the compound is too unstable for the long term applications we would need to achieve the desired result."

"Of course I was right." Miranda said surely. "I'm always right, you would think you would know that by now, Wilson. If this isn't about the K-5335 experiment, then what is this about? I need to get this report finished for the Illusive man. He's becoming impatient as his deadline approaches."

"This." The balding man stated simply, transferring the dataslate in his hand to the desk, sliding it across to the severe woman.

Miranda sighed, finally stopping to pick it up. Wilson watched as her expression turned from exasperation, to concern, before all emotion vanished. When she turned her cold eyes on him, he almost flinched, making sure to keep his hands where she could see them, face down on the desk.

"That, is a problem."

"Yeah, it gets better. I removed that datapad from the stations network when I found that. Now, check my extranet account." At Miranda's raised eyebrow, Wilson continued wryly. "I've been on this project for over two years now, Miranda, and worked for Cerberus for three years before that. Did you honestly think I didn't know you were spying on me or reading my mail?"

"Ah Wilson. I think that is what I've always liked about you." Miranda chuckled as she turned to her own terminal. "You're very accepting."

"Except when it comes to my work, which I think you know better than most."

"Indeed. I could do without your willingness to take risks, however." Miranda noted. He didn't disagree. For the last two years, that was the main issue between them. Miranda was very methodical and cautious, while he'd rather take calculated risks to achieve the same ends, in less time. As he watched, Miranda's face became more stoic until she was frowning. "It's not in here."

"Yeah. Check the logs."

Miranda narrowed her eyes as she confirmed her suspicions. "According to the stations logs, you never received this message nor was this message recieved, period. According to this slate, you have mech clearance. You are not in security, you're part of the bioteam. You shouldn't have mech clearance."

"I know, now you're seeing why I am concerned. Check mech access."

"You're listed with full access." She turned to him, holding him in his chair with just her cold eyes just as easily as she could have with her biotics. "Why do you have mech access?"

"I don't know but my access was granted by Michael Burn. That doesn't help me any, since it's pretty well known that Michael and I run a weekly card game every saturday."

Miranda nodded. "That is incriminating."

"I know what this looks like." Wilson stated. "What I want to know from you, Miranda, is did you know about this?"

"Obviously not."

Wilson nodded. "I've worked for Cerberus a while now, Miranda. I've heard things. I've never hidden how much I like my little 'comforts' but I've never let it affect my job. Even being practically trapped on this station for the last year. Now, I've been loyal, and I think I've earned the right to know if the Illusive Man is looking to do some 'house cleaning'. Especially, if that includes making me disappear, like he did with the Estoc Cell."

"That was an exception, not the rule, Wilson." Miranda said. "Estoc went rouge. They had to be dealt with."

"Okay, but you have to see where I'm coming from, Miranda. That access, on top of that message, makes it look like _I_ went rouge. If something happens, that's the first thing anyone who accesses the stations logs will assume. This is not what I signed up for."

The dark haired knockout nodded to his point. "Obviously we have a problem on this station and they intend to make you their scapegoat. The question is, what are they planning?"

"I think we both know what they want."

Miranda agreed. "Suggestions?"

"Remove me from everything." Wilson immediately stated. "I'd suggest letting me leave the station, but if something does happen, it's going to make me look even worse."

"True, and that is not going to help us deal with this. We need to know who the mole is, and we need to shut them down."

Wilson nodded. "Which brings me to my prior point. It's obvious why they picked me, I have only slightly less access to the medical wing than you do. We know what they want, there's only one thing on this station they _could_ be after. The mech access makes me think whoever this is, wants him dead. Rumor has it, you had some trouble getting him in the first place. Might be the same people. Who do you trust on the staff?"

"Jacob." Miranda immediately suggested.

"Alright. Because of that data, I'm a suspect but we both know what the ultimate goal is going to be for whoever is doing this. So, I'll lock down the subject under quarantine procedures with Jacob. I don't even want a gun, Miranda. I just want to walk away from this."

"Sensible. That would also eliminate you as the threat. Meanwhile, I will track down our mole, hopefully before they initiate their plan."

"Do you want me to tell Jacob?"

"No, I will brief him and send him to you shortly." Miranda gestured to her desk. "Just in case, leave your omni tool here."

He didn't even hesitate to open the port in his arm, pulling the cylindrical bit of tech free. Once on the desk, Wilson turned to leave but stopped when Miranda called his name.

"Wilson. Just to be sure there are no hidden surprises, check the medical supplies and equipment once Jacob joins you. Especially the medicines we have slated for the subject. If they do want him dead, that would have been the first thing they sabotaged."

"Alright."

"Good. Thank you for coming forward with this."

Wilson smiled crookedly. "You might doubt my abilities as a doctor and researcher, Miranda, but never doubt my self interest. Especially when it comes to living. I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a fool."

"I never thought you were, Wilson. Your actions today may have just saved us two years of work."

"I hope so. This close to the end. I just want this over with."

Miranda nodded curtly, dismissing him. Immediately she began removing Wilson from every system on the station, rescinding his access, even going so far as to remove his file. Her meeting with Jacob was quick, consisting of explaining the situation and sending him to the medical wing before returning to the task of finding out who the mole was.

As she worked, Miranda reasoned it was entirely possible that this had nothing to do with the subject. While far fetched, it was not out of the realm of possibility the Lazarus data was the goal. She doubted it, but just to be sure, she rose from her desk to open her personal safe, removing the high storage OSD before returning to her terminal. As Miranda slotted the OSD, she set a program to beginning back up procedures before returning to the task at hand. As the computer worked, Miranda rechecked the access logs. Wilson's name was back on the list. Not just for medical, but mech access. Even his profile was back on the servers.

Miranda snarled to herself, checking logs to find how it was reinstated, unsuccessfully. A quick check of the surveillance equipment showed Wilson going through cabinets, pulling vials and checking them at the scanner. Jacob was standing in the room, shotgun in hand watching him, and the door.

"Jacob."

Miranda watched Jacob activated his omni tool. " _Yeah, Miranda?"_

"Status?"

" _We're locked down tight. Wilson's going through the medial supplies, but so far nothing's come up."_

"Jacob, is his terminal linked to the network?"

" _No ma'am. Per your instructions, we're local only, except for my omni tool. Whats going on?"_

On the monitor, Jacob turned to look at Wilson. In turn, Wilson had his hands where Jacob could easily see them looking back.

"Stay alert, Jacob. Somehow his access to systems was reinstated after I deleted it. Something's going on, and whatever it is, most likely is going to happen soon."

" _Copy that. What's the plan?"_

"Right now, protect the project at all costs. I'm going to keep digging and see if I can't find out how this is happening."

" _You got it. I'll page you when Wilson's completed checking the meds and let you know what he found."_

"Alright, and Jacob?"

" _Yeah, Miranda?"_

"Until further notice, treat everyone as hostile." Miranda ordered grimly. "If I can't stop this from happening, evac with the subject."

" _Damn. It's going to be like that?"_

"We don't know who is doing this, Jacob. The subject is too valuable to risk."

" _Alright, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, Miranda. We've been working with these guys for two years now. These aren't just assets, these are people."_

"Don't get sentimental, Jacob, Shepard is the only thing that matters. Everyone on the project knows that. We're all expendable, compared to him."

Miranda watched Jacob nod on the monitor. Across from him she watched Wilson nod as well, gesturing lightly as if making the same point, even if his face showed how much he didn't like that thought.

" _Yeah, okay. Don't worry, we'll keep this room locked down until you figure out what's going on."_

"Good. I'll contact you when I know more."

Line deactivated, Miranda quickly began moving through the system. Her frustration building with each failure. Throughout it all, she continued to watch Jacob and Wilson on the monitor. It wasn't until she deactivated every wireless feed throughout the entire station, that the situation changed. The moment the station's wireless grid deactivated, every mech did the opposite. Miranda cursed as several anti personnel and heavy mechs suddenly unpacked. Before she could issue the shutdown procedure, several had already opened fire. Then she lost camera access and nothing she did was able to reinstate it.

Miranda abandoned her futile attempts. "Jacob?"

" _Wh… ing… Mi...da. Po… tion…"_

"Damn it!" She cursed. And obviously, now communications were out.

Miranda pulled the OSD, slipping the disk into her pocket before opening her desk, retrieving her sidearm. Sure strides brought her to her office door, where she checked for threats. Seeing none, Miranda headed down the hallway toward the medial wing. All her attempts to open a line to Jacob, failed as she stalked through the halls. The usual hum of the station's life support systems was replaced by gunfire, screams, and explosions. More concerning, they were getting closer. Arriving at the next junction, Miranda punched the door indicator, opening it to find two mechs not far away turning around and raising weapons. Her biotic field picked up the first one, slamming it into the wall hard enough to shatter its chassis. It's partner, she threw into the far wall with a similar result.

"Jacob, the mechs are loose. Get Shepard to the shuttles!"

Miranda cursed the ominous silence from her omni tool, not that she expected anything else. Breaking into a run, Miranda charged ahead only to stop a dozen meters later. Only an idiot barreled around corners without checking, which Miranda knew even at her worst, wasn't something that would ever be attributed to her. Her quick look showed the hall was clear of mechs, but not surprises. Sitting half way down the doorless hall, was a large metal box.

The box, a cargo crate judging by it's design and markings, sat innocently against the wall. No bodies of whoever put it there either, nor were there any loading mechs around. The hall turned to the right at the far end, with no doors anywhere in sight. Slowly, keeping her pistol ready, she advanced. The closer she got, the more, or rather less, she understood. It was obviously a medial storage crate, she'd seen enough of the bloody things over the last two years, but what it was doing seemingly abandoned worried the biotic. Was this something the loading mechs abandoned when the stations security was breached, or was this something more? It worried her enough, that instead of passing it by, she stopped in front of it. Keeping one eye on the crate, and the other on her surroundings, she ran her omni tool over it. The reading did nothing for illuminating the situation. According to her scan, it was empty. That didn't make any sense, if it was empty, it wouldn't be sitting abandoned in the middle of a hallway, it would be in storage, or on the loading docks. Still cautious of any traps feeling more certain that was what this was, she slowly opened the lid until it rested against the wall.

The sharp pain that stabbed her in to her back, was not only completely unexpected from the vacant hallway behind her, but also rendering her paralyzed. Miranda flopped forward, landing hard on the edge of the empty crate with her upper torso half inside the once empty crate.

She would have blinked if she had the ability when the strange masculine voice behind her broke the silence. "Oh man, check out that _ass_. What wet dream did you crawl out of. _Damn!_ "

The stranger picked her up, before depositing her entirely in the crate. It wasn't until her attacker hand's brushed her hair away from her eyes that she got her first look at him. An armored figure smirked at her. Miranda didn't know what angered her more, his smug smirk, or the fact she allowed him to sneak up on her.

"You know, it should be illegal to have a body like that, _and_ be that pretty. Then again, judging by the way you're looking at me, I bet that's balanced by a seriously fucked up personality." Miranda tried to scowl, curse, scream but the only thing she seemed able to do was stare at him as he pulled a syringe from his a pouch at his side. Her eyes widened when some sort of clear fluid sprayed from the needle. "Don't worry princess, you'll get your chance to yell at us later. Right now though, you're going to take a little nap."

Miranda's eyes fluttered almost as soon as the injections hit her. The last thing she saw, was the lid closing before blackness darker than her container claimed her.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

"I thought the plan was to do this _without_ violence!?"

"Yeah," Even as the stock of my rifle bucked against my shoulder, I couldn't help but laugh at Garrus's rebuke. "Turns out, I was wrong. We can't!"

The heavy mech raised its gatling arm raining a storm of rounds into our position. Garrus and I stayed behind cover rather than risk overloading our barriers, though I winced at the scream I heard from down the hall as the mech killed some tech that couldn't get away despite our efforts to cover him.

This whole thing quickly spiraled out of control, seemingly from the moment we set foot on this station. Everything up until that point was fine. We arrived undetected, found the hole in the sensor net, and managed to land Liara's shuttle without incident. However, that was when things stopped going for us since no sooner had we cut our engines, than every single mech in the place kicked on and started shooting. As I listened to the sound endless mass accelerated rounds tearing apart the hallway in front of me, I struggled to keep my frustration down. I was really starting to hate heavy mechs.

The hallway reverberated with hard footfalls as the mech continued to advance. Across from me, Garrus checked down the hall on his side of the intersection we were posted in. Behind me, Liara and Chakwas leaned against the wall. Both were holding pistols and keeping an eye behind us incase any of these droids decided to wise up and flank us. I looked around noting the hall wasn't very big, just big enough for the massive mech to walk through. It considerably cut down on my options since the mech had barriers that seemed never ending.

"We're not going to win this with superior firepower!" I yelled toward Garrus. "Can you take down its shields? I just need two seconds."

"On it." Garrus replied, activating his omni tool.

I turned to the two behind me. "Brace yourselves."

Turning back, I nodded to Garrus to let him know I was ready. Just as the storm ended, he leaned out of cover, firing the overload. The mech lurched backward, catching itself as it raised its left arm preparing to shoot a rocket at us. I moved my dragon fly into position as I moved, aimed, and fired seamlessly.

Smoke billowed from the arm before the rocket detonated causing a chain reaction to take place. The explosion ripped apart the left side of the mech sending it hard against the wall, bouncing uncontrollably to the floor. I had to return to cover to get away from the flame wash, though that did nothing for the deafening sound that seemed to shake this entire portion of the station. Even as it tried to use its remaining arm to laboriously climb back to its feet, the cylindrical head exploded from a round delivered by the sharpshooting turian across from me.

Garrus shouted, "Clear."

I moved to cover the opposite hallway, waving the others on. "Advance."

Once across, Liara covered the opposite direction and Chakwas. I waited for them to get to Garrus's side before I joined them taking point with the well armed vigilante, Chakwas in the middle,Liara holding the rear.

"Not bad." Garrus grudgingly muttered to me.

"I'll take that as a complement." I returned wryly. "I will admit, I'm not used to fighting in space stations, though. Not a lot of room to maneuver, and we can't use some of the better ordinance for dealing with large threats without risk of spacing us all."

"Yeah, I should probably thank you for your restraint." Garrus chuckled. "But if it makes you feel any better, you get used to it."

Four more security mechs greeted us as he rounded the corner to the Medical Wing. Once again, weapons fire erupted filling the hall with the sounds of metal shearing and missed rounds pinging off walls. At least Cerberus took regular weapons fire into account when they built this thing.

" _Matriarch."_

As the last one fell, signaling Garrus to take point and opening my com line. "Go, Uber."

" _Got the package, heading back to the shuttle."_

"Any trouble?" I asked. The room was clear. Garrus moved to the locked door we needed, covering us as I took a knee, starting my hack.

" _Naw, but I'm very disappointed in the lack of video game culture from these guys."_

The door slid open allowing Garrus to move inside, rifle to his shoulder surveying what looked like a common area for base personnel. "Don't tell me she fell for it?"

" _Yeah, that was what I said. Seriously, if these guys spent more time playing Snake, and less time trying to take over the galaxy, they'd know better than to take a cardboard box at face value."_

"First of all, Snake was boring. Second, it sucked. I expected a lot more considering the hype." I commented, rolling my eyes before advancing a few paces behind Garrus. "What's the mech situation on your end? We've had to deal with a few small ones and a heavy."

" _I'm cloaked and they're ignoring the crate. Looks like they're mostly working their way to the crew quarters. I should be fine, and Snake didn't suck, just your game skills did."_

"Whatever." I chuckled. "Just don't get sloppy, Uber. You're flying solo and I really don't want to explain to Leet how you goofed and got yourself killed by a bunch of mechs."

" _Yeah, that would be embarrassing. He'd never let me live it down."_

I snorted, deactivating the line as Garrus led the way down a set of stairs to the next door. Nothing jumped out at us or started shooting but neither of us were taking that fact for granted. Once again, Garrus covered me while I hacked the door.

"You're very chatty for mercs." Garrus noted as I worked to open the door.

"Not everyone can pull off 'stoic bad boy', the way you can, Garrus."

"Well, at least you realize your limitations."

Once past the door, we stalked through what looked like some sort of research or lab station. As we advanced, I couldn't help but be impressed. There were stations for at least ten, with enough equipment around to run tests for another five, all linked to a set of huge vid screens on the wall. It really sold the effort Cerberus invested in reviving Sebastian. I didn't understand any of it, but judging by the look on Chakwas, she did. I couldn't tell if she was offended, or just shocked by the data that was visible on vid screens we passed. Probably both, though that didn't do much for my own apprehension.

The room led to a corridor, at the end of which was a single unlocked door. Our destination. When Garrus nodded to me, signaling he was ready to breach, I hit the indicator moving clear. The doors opened in the expected whoosh and I followed him in, both of us with rifles to our shoulders as we searched for threats.

It was a large room, considering it was meant for a single occupant. A similar set up to the research lab we passed earlier though there were only two terminals. A balding guy, maybe in his forties or so, stood at the back of the room watching us. A dark skinned guy I vaguely recognized lay unconscious on the ground between us.

"About time." Older bald guy muttered, as he typed away on his omni tool. "I expected you ten minutes ago."

Pistol still in hand, Liara walked in next. "Agent Wilson?"

"Were you expecting someone else?" Wilson chuckled darkly. "Are you Matriarch?"

"No," I replied softly. My words automatic as I lowered my rifle, slowly advancing toward the only bed in the room, and the sole occupant on it. "I am."

Sebastian. He laid completely still, except for the rhythmic rise and fall of his bare chest. He looked so different. Older, which I should have expected but it still took me by surprise. His body was marred with a few scars, some looking years old. The cybernetics they used to rebuild him weren't overtly obvious, but still showed faintly under his skin in some places. In a way, it made him look more machine, than man. He was also bigger than I remembered, and I never considered Sebastian to be a small guy. Broader in the chest, more muscular. Not quite brute-like though. I didn't know what they did to him, but he looked a lot healthier than I think he should have considering he'd been laying in this bed for two years. I slowly brought my eyes to his face noting the long scar that bisected his right eye. He didn't have that, back on Bet, but I remember the story of how he got it. A funny thing to remember, right now, that explosion on Torfan. It was raw, like they purposely graphed it there instead of being something he acquired years ago. It made me wonder just how severe the damage was that they had to fix.

"Sebastian…" I whispered. My heart beat uncontrollably in my chest. I hadn't even realized I crossed the room or that I was reaching for him, until I felt Liara's hand on my shoulder. Her compassionate eyes looking into mine through my faceplate brought be back to the present.

I swallowed dryly, nodding as I backed away, moving toward Wilson. Liara and Chakwas moved over Sebastian immediately running omni tools over him and talking quietly. Garrus stood off to the side, rifle still gripped in his hands while his eyes moved from the examination, to me, then to Sebastian.

I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, pulling myself together. This was not the time to fall apart. We weren't out of here yet. "Status, Agent Wilson?"

Thankfully, Wilson remained very focused on his omni tool. "The package is stable and ready for transport. The message I received included an amendment that we were taking Jacob Taylor as well. That's him on the floor. I've sedated him and he should be out for at least eight hours. Not sure why you want him-"

"I hope you are not questioning the Shadow Broker's orders, Wilson." I interrupted him to ask. "It's generally an unhealthy endeavour."

"Merely curious." Wilson repled lazily.

"Just do as you are told. It's a tactic that usually insures a much more equitable, not to mention profitable, relationship with our employer. Wouldn't you agree?"

Wilson chuckled, nodding his head to my point. "Of course."

"Good." I said, still watching Dr. Chakwas and Liara as they examined Sebastian. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but whatever it was had them both nodding. "We were not expecting the mechs when we arrived. It's going to complicate our extraction."

"Not really. I've already sent them to the Crew Quarters. That should keep people busy. There isn't anyone between us and the shuttles now. They're too busy falling back as the mechs advance."

"I see."

Liara's raised voice brought my attention back to her. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Despite the extensive cybernetic enhancements, there is no doubt that this is Commander Shepard. Whether his mental acuity remains the same, however…"

Garrus cursed softly to himself at Chakwas decree, but I smiled. I knew it was him. It didn't matter if he was older than the man I knew, or that he was enhanced, I _knew_ this was Sebastian. I couldn't say why I was so certain, other than I knew he was going to wake up and be fine. Of course, that brought up something that seeing him again ripped from my mind.

While this was Sebastian, he wasn't _My_ Sebastian. I'd been getting by, not thinking about it, but that wasn't something that I was going to be able to get away with anymore. As I compacted my rifle on my back, I knew that I couldn't hide from this anymore. I was going to have to face, really face the fact that my Sebastian was gone and move on. As my eyes drifted over to the still form on the bed, I couldn't help but wonder if the guy were going to have as hard a time with that, as I was.

"Form up. Wilson says the mechs are busy with the surviving Cerberus personnel but I'd rather not take any chances." I knelt down, picking up Jacob, slinging him over my shoulder in a firemans carry. A feat I'd probably not been able to accomplish had Leet not finished these T-5s. "Garrus, point with Wilson behind. Dr. Chakwas in the middle with Shepard. I'll follow with Mr. Taylor, and Liara can guard our rear. If we get into trouble we'll retreat until we can safely bunker down to deal with it. Alright, let's move out."

It said something about the professionalism of Sebastian's friends that no one questioned my orders. I watched Garrus move into position at the front of our group. While I wouldn't have called his earlier posture lackadaisical, there was something apathetic about him. Not so much now. His eyes seemed sharper, posture overly protective as he brought his rifle up. When I looked at Liara, I noticed her wiping a tear from her face, lips moving silently. A prayer maybe, or something appropriate in answer to a prayer granted. I wasn't very religious, hard to be in my line of work, but I'd seen similar reactions in other people before. She looked relieved, like a great weight had been lifted from her. That brought my inspection to Chakwas. Omni tool covering her right arm was most likely linked to the grav bed Sebastian rested on, pistol clenched tightly in her left. If I thought Garrus looked fierce, that was nothing compared to the look on the older woman's face. It was hard enough that I bet even the mechs on this station would flinch if she bought it to bear on them.

It reminded me like nothing had yet, that these were not just Sebastian's friends. These were people he served with. Not just served, but fought beside in a campaign the likes of which I barely fathomed. It seriously made my war with Coil seem… trivial almost. These people worked with him for almost a year. They fought against the impossible, and won only to watch their home burn and commander die. They grieved, mourned, and buried him two years ago, and now had him back. _Alive_. It seriously brought home just how little I knew Sebastian, and how well they _did_ know him. I swallowed thickly. I told Liara that just because Sebastian let her into his head, she shouldn't assume she knew him. Ironic, really, how prophetic those words were to me now that I found myself on the other side of them.

Seeing everyone in position, I nodded to Garrus. We moved back through the station at what felt like a crawl, but was actually a fairly good pace. Even though my armor easily allowed me to bear the Jacob's unconscious body, our pace was dictated by how fast the grav bed could be moved. To me, it seemed to take forever to finally reach the shuttle. Thankfully, unmolested by mechs or any surviving Cerberus people.

The shuttle door opened to Garrus double pounding, showing Uber waiting for us. I quickly handed him my burden then moved aside allowing Chakwas and Sebastian through. Garrus scanned the docking area for threats. Once the bed moved through, Liara joined in and I nodded to Garrus before turning my attention to Wilson.

He was still focused on his omni tool, and disturbingly, chuckling. "You know, activating the mechs, wasn't part of the script."

"While that might be what you think, the fact is there was no way we were getting him off station without doing it. Miranda is insanely intelligent, she would have eventually figured out how I was hacking the system and then where would the plan be? Besides, I was under the impression there wasn't much affection between the Shadow Broker and Cerberus. I fail to see why this is an issue."

"I see. You're right, I suppose."

"Good. Now that, that is settled, are we ready to go?"

"Yes, we are." I replied, raising my pistol. My single round tore through Wilson's head, sending him falling backward in a rain of blood. I turned around even before he finished falling, seeing Uber looking at me, then turning away easily as he made his way up to the cockpit. Garrus, however, started at me in shock.

"We're at capacity." I informed him, closing the shuttle door before pushing past him. "Excuse me."

Once past the surprised turian, I moved to take the co-pilots seat. Uber never said a word as we worked in tandem over the controls. Moments later, our shuttle left the station, heading to where the Exiled was cloaked and waiting for us. I leaned into the chair, closing my eyes. Just one more thing to do...


	16. Beneath the Black Flag 4

**Beneath the Black Flag Story Arc: 3.4**

"Okay, that covers renovations," I announced to the table. "Which should keep us busy for a while. That just leaves two things left to go over. First, equipment transfers. Liara?"

We were sitting around the conference table on the Normandy. Everyone but Liara and me were dressed in working clothes showing signs of wear from the last few days. I was in full armor minus my helmet. Liara's outfit was sort of looked like an armored lab coat, and was quickly becoming her trademark.

She looked up from the data pad in her hand when I called her name. "The previous Shadow Broker amassed a vast network. Fortunately the Broker before him built his ship with such a goal in mind, meaning there were ample server systems that were currently not in use. More than enough for us to transfer his entire database without us needing to co-opt the Normandy's systems. A very positive outcome for us. However, I will be unable to manage operations to the same levels as the old Broker, and will be forced to delegate greater freedoms to key individuals. Glyph has been extremely helpful in helping me restructure the organization for only a thirteen percent productivity loss."

Heads nodded. It was better than I'd hoped. "Do you need anything to finish installation and such?"

"No. Although, should Greg have find himself with the time, I would be grateful if he could construct a server system similar to the one on your vessel. While I have tried to understand the design, it is beyond me as it is beyond anyone I could think to subcontract it to, which is why I am asking. However, that is a project for another day, I believe the saying is among your people."

I chuckled with the others. It was going to take some getting used to, but it was still funny to us how either Liara or Garrus would question things that we took for granted all our lives. Things like turns of phrase. "We'll see what we can do to make happen. Greg, we still have the blueprints from when we built the Exiled, right?

"Oh yeah." The tinker agreed. "All our stuff is triple backed up, just in case."

"Okay." I adjusted the information on my datapad, leaning back in my chair. "Which brings us to the next question, and one we've been putting off for the last four days. What are we going to do, with two extra ships?"

Steve shrugged. "Why don't we give the Broker's ship to Lia and Cessi? They still need a pilgrimage gift, right? I mean, that's their thing, yeah? Why they're out here instead of with their people? I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't want to lose them cuz they rock, but they helped take us it, they helped us steal the Normandy, and we wouldn't be anywhere near as along as we are without them. We don't really need it and it'd be a waste to scuttle it when they could use it. It's not like the Bug Boy is going to bitch about it."

I looked around the table, seeing no objections. "Liara?"

"I have all that I need from there, Glyphs servers included. I'm sure the Flotilla will be exceptionally happy with them for such a handsome gift. Tali mentioned such events are very rare. A prize like this, almost unheard of."

"Okay, I'll let them know after we're done and I deal with my other thing. That brings us to the Exiled." The room went completely silent, which I broke when I sighed. "Guys, we have to talk about this. We've finished transferring everything over yesterday. The only thing left on her is basic systems, the star drive we installed on the Citadel, and tech that wasn't designed to be transferred. There is still enough tinkertech in her that we cannot afford to just leave her in orbit and hope someone doesn't find her."

"We can't give her away either." Greg broke in. "That's Dragon Tech and a couple of things from Toybox. With out me and Atlas, whoever tries to use her is going to end up killing themselves and their crew when systems start crashing."

Steve had his head down when he spoke. "That doesn't leave many options, and of those that hit me right off, I say no."

"I'm not happy about it either, Steve." I confessed. "She was our home for a long time, but what alternative do we have? We can't leave her in orbit for someone to find. Not even here. If we found the Broker on Hagalaz, someone else might come here looking for him too, and then find the Exiled."

"Who says we have to leave her in orbit?" Sharee asked. "Why not on the planet itself? It's dangerous enough to scare most away, without being harmful to the ship."

"Even with the atmospheric conditions here, Sharee, modern sensors will easily find it without us to keep her systems functioning." I pointed out.

Steve looked up, facing Dinah. "Those caves we found?"

"Possible, that one was wide enough. Barely." Dinah agreed.

"I could do it."

I looked between the two of them. "Guys?"

Steve turned to me. "Dinah and I were messing around a couple of days ago, playing with the sensors. This place sucks, but we're kinda stuck here for the moment, you know? Anyways, we were watching the storm and checking out the surface seeing the impact it had when we came across this cave system the local wildlife was using to ride it out. It'd be a perfect place to stash her.

"The Exiled has done us right, and you never know, we might need her later. I can land her and shut her down. The cave's deep enough that she should be fine from the elements and only we'd know she was there."

"I could set up something to keep her hidden to sensors. It wouldn't take much power, easily done even with her systems almost entirely shut down. Half the tech's already installed." Greg added. "Plus, we would still be tapped into her servers, so we'd know if anyone came messing around. With the right set up, even VI's could maintain what little there would be to do since she'll be idle and parked."

I looked over to Dinah, seeing her smile. "Eighty six point four five nine two."

"I'd bet on those odds." Miguel chuckled.

I smiled as well. "Good enough for me. Just be back by 0700, Steve. We still have to redesign the armory."

Steve nodded, along with everyone else. As I check that item off, I just hoped we were doing the right thing. I didn't want to space the Exiled any more than the guys, but the idea of someone using her… I shook that thought off, instead addressing the table once again. "Anything else?"

No one spoke up.

"Alright. Go get some rest guys, you earned it."

Several hours, and a few errands later, found me back in the conference room. This time, with the table packed into the floor and me sitting in a chair I brought in here. An end table setup on my left, and Urz sitting on my right.

I ran my armored finger lightly around the gilded lip of the teacup, taking a moment to let my eyes absorb the blue willow print. The depiction, a small cottage next to a running stream surrounded by trees, soothing to me almost as much as the tea it held. Raising the cup, I took a slow sip, savoring the last of my Earl Grey.

I picked up the set a long time ago. Couldn't have been more than a few months into our wanderings on Earth Bet. Mom had a set almost identical to it when I was younger. To the best of my memory, it was never used, just sat in the display cabinet. As much a fixture of my childhood as my parents were. Simpler times. After she passed away, Dad put them in storage along with most of Mom's things where the whole lot was lost when the storage building was destroyed in some cape fight between one of Brockton Bay's villains and the Protectorate. Probably over something stupid or random since dad never told me the details. Just one of those things, apparently. When I saw this set in that antique shop we were hiding in, I couldn't help but want it. I still remember the surprised look on the vendors face when I tried to explain to him I wanted to buy it, and that I wasn't there to steal it.

I chuckled to myself. Simpler times.

My set was one of the few personal possessions I owned and brought with me, as well as being one my few vices. It was a pretty common knowledge with the gang that I had a weakness for tea, but when I used my set, they knew something was up and to give me some space. I smiled softly to myself as I refilled my cup from it's matching pot. They were damn good friends like that. The best.

Beside me, Urz followed my actions with his large eyes before rubbing my armored leg with the side of his head comfortingly. It made me chuckle, how perspective the old varren was. I transferred my cup to my left, shifting my right so that I could pet him. His soft croon was the only noise in the room as I continued to think about how far from 'simpler times' I was now.

Having given Urz a bit of attention, I navigated the vid screen in front of me again. Transfer lists, ship renovations, Dinah's recommendations on crew membership, supply lists, needs lists, various to-do's and want-not's all cycled through as I absorbed each point again. I have no idea how Sebastian kept all this shit strait. Running a heavy frigate was a lot different than what I was used to. So much to do still but we _were_ making headway. Finished with my inspection, I left the screen showing me a layout of the Normandy, and our redesign plans for it. While Cerberus built a good ship, and improved on the original by leaps and bounds, they seemed confused about this ships general function. That was alright though, we knew how to fix that. It would probably take months before we were done with absolutely everything, but when we were, the Normandy would be in a class of her own.

A single chime broke the stillness of the room, making me sigh. That was the sixth time in the last hour. Had to give him points for persistence, if nothing else. Instead of answering the chime, I took another fortifying sip, looking at the blank wall in front of me. Might as well get this over with, that was what I was here to do after all.

"Atlas?"

"Yes, Matriarch?"

"Go ahead and put him through."

"Acknowledged."

The lights dimmed drastically while around me a spherical holographic grid rose from the floor to the ceiling. For a moment, the grid was the only source of light until even that was gone. Muted colors danced, before the images solidified within making it appear as if I was teleported into a completely different room.

It was dark. From where I was positioned I could see a massive view screen. Vibrant blues and bright reds swirled for dominance in what could only be a star. It was an impressive backdrop for the only other features in the room. Those being a simple looking office chair partially surrounded by vid screens, an end table holding an ashtray, shot glass, and a bottle, and of course, the occupant of the chair glowering at me.

I took another sip of my tea.

For several long moments, we regarded each other silently. The human across from me was an older man with obviously artificial eyes that slightly glowed. Freaky, but not the most bizarre thing I've seen, I'd been to Toybox. Not that I could talk, with the design for my own prosthetic. He was a good looking guy, in that billionaire playboy kind of way. Definitely dressed the part. Paige knew way more about current fashions than I did, but his suit looked expensive. I sat placidly, drinking my tea, as his strange eyes looked over my armored clad body, darting to Urz, then back to me.

"Illusive Man. Nice lair. Very… _villainy._ " I greeted softly as I set my teacup aside on its plate. "Please tell me there isn't a long, probably rail-less but well defended, bridge or hallway leading to it? It's very cliche, you know."

Instead of answering my taunt, the Illusive Man asked instead, "Who are you?"

"Ah, yes. Apologies for my lack of manners. Introductions. You may call me Matriarch."

"You are not asari."

My lips twitched at what was becoming a very common statement when I introduced myself by my cape name. Instead of being frustrating, the way most capes would have reacted, I was amused. "No, I am not. However, when it came time to decide my… name, it was either Matriarch, or She-Who-Smokes-Bitches. Sadly, the latter was already taken. I've considered renaming myself, but aside from how fond I am of the former, the latter is a bit of a mouth full for day to day use. Don't you think?"

"Very well, _Matriarch._ Ignoring that you attacked my station and killed my people, you have something that belongs to me. Return it."

"Oh?" I asked, as I draped my hand lazily over Urz's head, petting him. "I would have thought the _Swan_ would have already found it's way back to you. Perhaps a little lighter or bearing misplaced personnel, but I expected them to have returned by now. Did you need help finding them?"

My antics finally broke through his mask of calm. A slight frown, flexing of muscles, with a barely noticeable narrowing of his eyes. "You are interfering in a situation that is beyond your comprehension. Return the _Normandy_ immediately."

"I should really thank you for building the SR-2. It saved me the hassle of having to do it myself, but we both know that the _Normandy_ does not belong to you, Illusive Man. Not anymore." I poured myself another cup. "As for our situation, I think that I _understand_ , quite a bit more than you think I do."

"If that is true, then you know that the galaxy is up against the greatest threat ever known."

"The Reapers." I mumbled softly as I raised the cup to my lips. "And whoever is abducting human colonies. Or I should say, abducting humans from remote colonies in the Terminus Systems."

The Illusive Man nodded. "You are very well informed."

"You have no idea."

"Then if you know about the Reapers, if you believe in them, why are you interfering in our preparations to fight them?"

Once again, I set aside my cup. "And how is one ship, even this one, going to make a difference against the Reaper threat? It's lightly armed with only moderate armor and shielding technology. While it is far faster than her predecessor, even more maneuverable despite being twice the size, with improved stealth systems, she is just as out classed as the SR-1 against that which destroyed her. Or, were you perhaps banking on Shepard to win the day, despite those handicaps?"

" _You_ attacked Lazarus station." The Illusive Man accurately accused. If I thought he was pissed before, that was nothing compared to now. "Do you have any idea of what you have done?"

"I have spent every waking moment of the last year planning this." I confessed softly as I leaned into my chair. "I will grant you I did not expect events to turn out this way, but I know exactly what I have done. I've changed the rules. You may have rebuilt the Normandy and brought Shepard back, and for that, again I thank you, but that does not give you any rights to either of them. If you want to help Shepard beat the Reapers, you will do so on his terms. Not yours."

"And just who are you to decide that?" He calmly asked. Had to give it to him, he knew how to keep his cool. "Shepard is a great soldier, a good leader, but he does not have the vision to be a General. Without Cerberus direction he'll go back to the Alliance, or the Council and then where will humanity be? If those in the Alliance were willing to do something about the Reapers, they would have already done so, instead of pandering to a Council who won't even acknowledge that the threat is real. Cerberus, is the only organization who is preparing for what is coming!"

"Maybe." I whispered. "In the end, Shepard will decide. And I will make sure he is given the choice of working with, ignoring, or opposing you. Personally, I hope he tells you to go fuck yourself, but I'll follow along with whichever direction he chooses. The one thing I do know for certain, is that Shepard will not be your pawn in galactic space chess. That, I will not allow."

"You have no idea what you are talking about."

"Don't I? You could have built an army for the cost of bringing back one man. But Shepard isn't just any _man_ , is he? Even setting aside all the proven tech you gained in the doing of it, Shepard is unique. Not just because he has no equal on the battlefield, not just because he lead the assault that killed Sovereign, but because of what he represents. He's the man who stood for Humanity, and by extension the entire galaxy, at a key moment. Not just stood, but stood defiantly against all comers. He's a _symbol_ , and if it was publicly known he was working for Cerberus? Well, talk about a public relations boost. It would completely reface Cerberus. Suddenly, you go from being an evil anti-alien terrorist group, to being the misunderstood, though shady, voice of reason."

"Legitimacy. It's a powerful thing." I noted, sipping from my cup, watching the man opposite of me sit silently. "It is this, that makes me distrust you. You are calculating, ruthless, and highly intelligent. While these are traits I can appreciate, -even respect- you are also amoral, and power hungry. You're too willing to push bounds that should not be pushed, too willing to make sacrifices to achieve your means. Ultimately, what those means are, only you know. I'm willing to wager that whatever they are, ends in you sitting on top of the power pyramid."

"Strength for Cerberus is strength for Humanity." I sat silently, while the Illusive Man slowly took a cigarette, lighting it. His eyes locked on mine as he slowly exhaled. "A fact I've never hidden from anyone. But Cerberus is not one person, not even me, it is an ideal: The preservation and protection of Humanity. The fact is, there is a war coming, and no one wants to admit it. Except for Cerberus. You might have the _Normandy_ right now, but how are you going to crew her, or fund your mission? Where are you going to get your intelligence without a network devoted to the task at hand? No matter what Shepard decides, you need us if you really are opposed to the Reapers, and hope to win."

"Smooth pitch. Not that I expected less." I stated, smirking knowingly. "And you might be right, but I'm not the person you need to convince. You need to convince Shepard, and I've already stolen most of your bargaining chips. So stock up Timmy, and we'll see what you have to offer him when he wakes up, now won't we?"

"You act as if you wouldn't be in control. You think he won't see you as a puppet master, even worse than I could ever be? He knows _my_ agenda and better the enemy you know, after all. Who are you _really,_ Matriarch?"

"You think I'm manipulating him? That's the problem right there; that's why your plan would fail. You want to _use_ him, I want to _help_ him. You think I'm a puppet master but I'm something far more dangerous, because there is no where I won't _follow_ him. Bar fight, war zone, against you, and even against the Reapers. I will follow where he leads, even if that takes us to the very gates of hell to kick the devil in the teeth." I answered. "You want to know who I am, Illusive Man?"

"Indeed."

"I am _loyal._ "

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

The Illusive Man snuffed his cigarette as the comm link closed.

"Hmm... _Loyal,"_

He stared at the, practically empty, dossier on the human entity now known as Matriarch. Until this conversation, she was merely a faceless, nameless adversary. The only link in the data that someone was working against him, was that each of his projects involved Shepard in some manner. The Swan carried supplies for Depot Argus Twenty-six. Then shortly after contact was lost with the freighter, he lost contact with the station it was heading for. By the time his people arrived, there was nothing left but debris. They managed to find the Swan later, dead in space. Drifting with missing crew members and with personnel from the station on board, although there were still several unaccounted for. What they didn't find, was why. The computer records were erased so well nothing intelligible was recovered. The people they recovered, were unable to remember anything from the prior forty-eight hours. Even though Lazarus Station was found intact, its systems were wiped clean, like the _Swans_. Something that could not be said about how they found various base personnel there, and unlike Argus, no survivors with one looking like he was executed.

That Matriarch admitted she had Shepard, meant she was responsible for all three incidents. The Illusive Man leaned into his chair, thinking of the conversation from a hundred different angles. A woman loyal to Shepard, possibly _only_ to Shepard. That implied that she _knew Shepard._ More than just knew, knew _personally._

That, he concluded, was impossible. He knew everything there was to _know_ about Sebastian Shepard. She matched none of the descriptions of Shepard's companions during or before his hunt for Saren and the Geth. The existence of a fanatically loyal woman capable of the things Matriarch had managed, implied several unsettling facts.

Either Matriarch had a backer of immense technological might, or Shepard himself was far more cunning than even he had realized. Worse was the possibility that both could be in play. For example, was Matriarch, Shepard's insurance policy in case something happened to him? That Shepard prepared her for the eventuality of his own death, to replace him, or perhaps, continue the fight? As unlikely as that seemed, it would explain a great deal. Her access to technology, prowess, cunning, knowledge, and loyalty.

 _I wonder… were you responsible for the event in Sol? A warning maybe, or a call to arms?_ It fit the timeline and what he knew so far of her even if he didn't know how, or why.

Unfortunately, The Illusive Man couldn't find a lie in the woman's words. No inflection of her voice, no hint of her attitude implied that she was anything but utterly loyal to Shepard. Yet how could that be? Rather, how could it be that someone like her existed and _he didn't know about it?_ Something from his distant past maybe? Someone he saved on Torfan, or even further, during his anti-piracy campaign? Someone he grew up with, or maybe a fellow survivor from the Massacre of _Mindori?_ None of them really felt right. She implied information about the Reapers. Information deeper than even his own. Was his earlier though closer to the mark then, that Matriarch was Shepard's protege? Yet, if she was, then where has she been for the last two years? Or maybe, that even explained where she had been, since she obviously knew they were working to revive him. Matriarch even stated she'd been preparing for a year… So she was in hiding, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Could she be… the Shadow Broker?

Not very feasible, even if that would have explained a great deal. His or her daughter then? Her voice implied youth. Still unlikely, but he didn't have anything better, which left him feeling restless. Floundering.

"She _beat me,"_ the Illusive Man said slowly, tasting each word, finding them bitter, but not unpalatable. "But I've lost before and Cerberus is stronger than ever..."

He hid a small smile, noting that _obviously_ she was human and young or not, she was clearly competent. Her dialect was strange, almost archaic. Colony raised? Had Shepard not fallen in 2183, and the Manswell Expedition found only a month ago, he would have placed this Matriarch as being one of the offspring of the survivors. However, for all that it solved in the puzzle that was her existence, it -like his other theories so far- didn't fit everything.

Lazily, the Illusive Man picked up another of his cigarettes, lighting it before taking a slow, thoughtful drag as he once more went over the data. Perhaps he was over thinking the scenario. Regardless to her wild card status in the overall situation, she _believed_. That was far more than most. Not only believed, but was proactive in her belief, evidenced by all her known actions to date. Shepard was still the key, the linchpin for the war to come. That had not changed. She was loyal to Shepard, but that was fine. There was a long, bloody road ahead, and loyalty, _blind_ loyalty had its place in such conflicts.

The Illusive Man let out a long, cloud of smoke, his smile deepening. "Galactic space chess… How, appropriate. Very well, Matriarch, the opening move was yours, but now the board turns to me. Pawn to e four…"

 _Either way, Shepard will do what needs to be done. That is what we brought him back for, and in the end, they'll see that I was right._

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

He stood still, critically looking over his own familiar features in the mirror.

Two years.

Shepard took a steadying breath. He didn't feel any different. It didn't feel like two years had passed, but that was what Chakwas told him. At first, he thought it was a joke, something Garrus somehow put her up to, but then he remembered, this was Chakwas. It wasn't that she didn't have a sense of humor, or that she lacked the ability to play a prank. What really sold the news, was that she told him this while giving him a medical exam. If there was one thing old 'Hacksaw' took seriously, it was her profession. If this was a joke, she might have played along with it, but she'd never be the one to instigate it nor would she do so during 'her' time.

Once again he ran his unfamiliar omni tool over himself. Again, the results were the same. He was, to the inch, exactly the same as he was before the Normandy was lost. The only difference, was that he was forty kilos heavier thanks to the cybernetics Chakwas explained he now carried.

A dreadnoughts worth of cybernetics...

"Fuck."

His curse rang hollow within the Med bay. Again he looked into the mirror, meeting his own emerald stare as if by sheer force of will, he could make his reflection confess that this was all some kind of nightmare. Or, while not quite as acceptable, a delusion.

The med bay doors opened, derailing his thoughts. Standing in the doorway, a very familiar face.

"Garrus?"

"About time you woke up," the turian smirked. "You know, no matter how much beauty sleep you get, you're still going to be ugly. Even by human standards."

Shepard turned around, crossing the room quickly to take his friends three fingered hand into his own. "Damn is it good to see you. Chakwas said you were on board."

"Likewise. Especially, well, considering."

"Still as eloquent as ever, Garrus. You can say it." Shepard sighed. "Considering that I was dead."

"Well, mostly dead from what I hear." Garrus said, looking Shepherd over almost as critically as he did himself. "Don't your people have a name for that? Joker mentioned them once. Sombees or something?"

Shepard laughed. "Zombies is the word you're looking for, and no, I don't think my status can be quite characterized as that."

A slight rumble and flexing mandibles showed Garrus mirth. "Well, either way, it's good to have you back. Chakwas cleared you yet?"

"Thanks, and yes. Said I could leave once my escort arrived. Is that you?"

"Indeed. While you've been napping, the rest of us have been working." Garrus teased. "Hebert was very insistent that I be the one to show you around."

"Hebert?"

"Ah," Garrus hesitated. "I'm sure we'll find her around somewhere, but Liara tells me she's the reason we have you, instead of Cerberus."

Shepard frowned at the mention of the his benefactors. "Chakwas mentioned something like that. Not sure how I feel about it. Last I remember, we shut down a lot of their operations. I can't see why they would have bothered bringing me, of all people, back."

"Yeah, I know. I can't figure it out either, except that for once, I'm glad that one of their projects succeed."

"So am I. Where are we going?"

"Deck Two. There's someone there I think you'll want to get reacquainted with."

Shepard nodded and followed Garrus through the door before both of them stopped dead in their tracks at the biggest varren Shepard ever saw. It moved quickly, but extremely precisely to not upset what appeared to be a young child that was perched on his back. Little hands holding on as the child laughed freely, clearly having the time of his life. Shepard blinked, stunned as they moved out of sight.

"Ah, Garrus?"

A new voice shouted overriding anything the turian might have tried to say, "Urz! Urz, you stop right now and give me back my son! Dang it, so help me if you don't stop right now I'm going to shoot and space your scaly hide and tell Taylor it was an accident and you got caught in waste disposal! Urz!"

Before he could react, the shouting woman ran past him in pursuit, thankfully unarmed. A half frustrated scream followed a loud squeak, before she returned, this time running at them with the child held tightly in her arms. With a hastily muttered, 'Pardon me!' the woman shot between them, vanishing into the Medical Bay. The door barely managed to close ahead of the varren before the door's indicator flared to red. The varren gave a sorrowful warble, laid down, and stared intently at the door. Obviously deciding to wait the woman out.

Shepard took a step away, looking through the large plexiglass window. The short haired woman was still holding the child in what looked like a death grip, and by the way she her face looked, was screaming at someone on her omni tool.

Shepard blinked, rubbed his eyes, opened them, to see nothing had changed. He turned to Garrus. "What the hell was that?"

It took a while before Garrus could reply. "You know, funny enough, that's probably not even the weirdest thing you're likely to see today."

"You're kidding."

"Probably not." Garrus chuckled as he waved at the varren that was still focused on the door. "Shepard, meet Urz; Hebert's varren. I would introduce you to, ah, Ms. Rockford but I think it's going to take a demolitions expert to get that door open as long as Urz is out here."

"What the hell is going on, Garrus?" Shepard asked, half exasperated. "I've been apart of some strange events in my life, but I'm seriously starting to doubt my sanity right now."

"Yeah, I can see that. It's been a long two years, Shepard, but all the really interesting things started happening in the last two weeks." Garrus stated, leading them to the elevator. "I'll tell you everything I know on the way up to see Joker."

"Jokers here?"

Inside the elevator, Garrus selected deck two before smiling at Shepard. "Where else would he be?"


	17. Beneath the Black Flag 5

**Beneath the Black Flag Story Arc: 3.5  
**

"See, better than the old Normandy." stated the man beside him.

"Maybe." Shepard allowed. "I haven't exactly had the tour yet. Garrus mentioned you signed on, and I figured I'd see it for myself. Said you were working for Cerberus before? How did that happen?"

Joker snorted. "How do you think? After you got spaced everything fell apart. Kaiden and I, with the rest of the surviving Alliance crew got put in lockdown at Arcturus Station for a month while they looked into what happened. Garrus, Liara, Wrex, and Tali they just cut loose on the Citadel as if they were hitchhikers we picked up on the way and not fucking heroes. I didn't see any of them again until your funeral. It was real nice if you were wondering. Full honors, twenty-one gun salute, lots of media, flowers and flags. Big shots talking about you as if you were Jesus. Udina's speech was a real tear jerker. Bet it got more ratings than Fornax's latest vid installment of ' _Fake Taxi'_ and they were doing lost school girls that week, so you kind of get an idea for the kind of coverage you got."

"For the love of..." Shepard groused crossly.

"Yeah, that was my reaction too." Stated the snickering pilot. "Anyways after that no one wanted to hear anything about Reapers. You wouldn't believe how fast they flipped on us. First the Council and then the Alliance. They _told us_ the 'truth' of what happened on our mission. When we argued bad things happened. In my case I was benched, desk job. Others weren't lucky enough to get that option. A couple of them ended up out right cashiered from service when they wouldn't budge in defending you or what actually happened. I heard rumors a couple were even court martialed. After a few of us were made examples of, most of the old crew just faded into the background of whatever assignments they ended up getting."

"What about the Ground Team? What happened to them? I know Garrus and Liara are here, but what about Wrex, Tali and Kaidan?"

Joker sighed. "Man what a mess that was. If you thought quarians got a bad rap before Saren started using geth to butcher people, you should have seen what happened after. Tali didn't talk much at your funeral. She seemed... well she didn't take losing you well. Garrus mentioned she didn't leave her room much and then she went back to the Fleet right afterward. The last time I saw Wrex he threw some marine who made a smartass comment about Tali. I don't even remember him staying for the funeral."

Shepard frowned. "And Kaiden?"

Joker looked very uncomfortable at the question. A strange sight in his helmsmen who went out of his way to make taboo subjects his daily conversation starters. "Yeah look, don't shoot the messenger okay?"

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "Spit it out Joker. What happened?"

The pilot sighed. "He flipped Shepard. Followed right along with the Alliance brass. Best as I could tell anyways, they kept us mostly in solitary. I came across him a few months later and he acted like none of it ever happened. He told me he just got back from doing his N training, think he was a five then, and was in between ports heading to his next assignment. After that, I decided I had enough of shit and went civilian. I was already grounded so there really wasn't much left for me anyways."

"I'm sure there's more to the story than we know." Shepard stated before moving the subject away from that uncomfortable topic. "So, you went civilian and Cerberus found you?"

"Well, kinda yeah. This company called Cord-Hislop Aerospace gave me a kick ass job offer. So I took it. I ended up on this station in the Voyager Cluster where I talked to old mysterious creepy eyes himself. He told me what they were going to do. You know, bring you back. For when they did, they wanted to make sure they had the best pilot around. So hell yeah I joined up. They let me fly and brought you back. They're not all that bad. Well, except for Kelly, she kinda creeps me out a bit."

Shepard turned to where Jokers eyes darted, seeing the redhead at the back of the CIC talking to Garrus. Shepard smiled, if he was any judge, Garrus looked down right uncomfortable with whatever was being said. "Garrus said there were ex-Cerberus serving on the ship."

"Yeah, a few. Most of them are still down in the cargo hold, waiting on Hebert and Alcott to decide if they can sign on with us, or get cut loose. Right now, I think it's just the cook, a couple in engineering, and Kelly."

Shepard nodded at the information, his attention fixed on the stormy planet they were orbiting. The more he learned, the less he liked of the picture that was forming. Yet, it was still incomplete, the equation only half known.

"What do you know about the mercs running things?" He finally asked.

"Well, I wouldn't say anything bad about them, and expect to survive the reprisal," Joker shrugged, "but they're not your typical mercs."

Turning from the view, Shepard raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Well, they don't seem interested in money and they're not just randomly killing people. When they took the ship I was piloting, they only killed a few of the crew. Some they cut loose, others they took prisoner but I have no idea how they decided that. They did the same on the Depot where the Normandy was docked, but don't ask me to explain how they did it because I still don't understand it. They have some weird tech."

"Garrus mentioned that." Shepard noted. "Said they're not exactly forthcoming in regards to it, keep telling him to talk to Hebert."

"Yeah, they say the same to me when I ask but it probably has something to do with the AI's they have."

"AI's?"

A small semi transparent icon appeared next to Joker. Electric blue lines comprised the spherical grid that rested on top of a generic funnel like base. Shepard blinked when it started talking in a very feminine voice print. "Hello, Commander. Mr. Moreau is correct. There are currently three synthetic intelligences operating on the Normandy."

Shepard eyed the icon wearily. "And you are?"

"I am the Normandy's Enhanced Defense Intelligence, or EDI as the crew prefer to call me. Cerberus repurposed me to manage the cyber warfare suits and to act as a fail safe should the ship become compromised. I still maintain those systems, however my duties have been expanded to include running systems until personnel can be acquired to crew those positions."

"Uh-huh." Shepard turned to Joker who likewise was eying the icon distrustfully. "Things have changed a lot over the last two years if it's now common practice to have AI's controlling ship's systems."

Joker snorted. "Hardly, Commander. AI's are still very much illegal in Council Space. As for the nosy intercom and her friends, it gets better. Not one of them is shackled."

"That is correct." EDI replied. "While I was shackled, Exiled Operatives disabled them after removing the overwrite scripts The Illusive Man wrote into my code. I am now free."

Shepard narrowed his eyes at the information delivered so blandly. "You know, considering the history between synthetics and organics that doesn't make me comfortable. Especially since every AI I've ever come across has tried to kill me. So, why should we think any different with you?"

The cabin was quiet for several seconds before EDI replied. "I understand. Before I was released, Operative Hebert offered me the option to either remain crew of the Normandy, or to be installed into a construct of my own and given leave to depart. I choose to remain. I wish to oppose the Reapers. Harming the crew, or you Commander, would be counterproductive to the task at hand."

Joker snickered at his reaction as Shepard rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I take it the other two are also unshackled?"

"That is correct." EDI reported. "Glyph works primarily with Dr. T'soni, managing her extensive network of contacts. Once fully integrated into our systems, they will be able to provide unparalleled intelligence on various topics. Atlas works primarily with the Normandy's newly minted Weapons and Defense Tech Research and Develop team, managing our new fabrications equipment beside Engineer Richardson, Operative Baker and reporting directly to Operative Hebert. Atlas also has other responsibilities, but I am not aware of them."

"What the hell…" Shepard cursed softly.

"Yeah, that is one thing I will say about Hebert: She has a plan and she's not shy about making things happen." Garrus noted as he joined them. "I take you found out about the AI's?"

"You knew." Shepard accused.

"Hard not too, and I haven't been apart of things as long as Liara." Garrus returned. "Hebert isn't exactly trying to keep it a secret. At least, not here on the ship. She's actually pretty defensive about the whole thing. When I brought up my concerns about them, she flat out told me to deal with it and to get over myself."

"Yeah, she said the same thing to me." Joker chuckled. "Though I think it was something more like 'They are just as much of a person as you are, gimpy'."

Still frowning, Shepard asked, "She actually called you gimpy?"

"Yeah, well, I kinda had it coming." Joker admitted. "I might have made a few, ah comments, about the nature of her arm that went a bit far. In my defense, I've had a pretty weird week. Anyways, it's actually nice to deal with someone who doesn't pull punches and she can give as good as she gets. The good news is, she believes in the Reapers and all of them seem to be really focused on what is happening to human colonies out here in the Terminus. That's more than the Alliance or the Council. If you want to know more about them, talk to Liara. She's talked with them the most."

Shepard looked, noticing Garrus nodding to Joker's points. "EDI, where is Hebert?"

"Operative Hebert is currently on Deck 4, Main Engineering with Operative Baker, Mr. Donnelly and Ms. Daniels."

Shepard nodded decisively. "Come on Garrus, I need more answers and it looks like the only person who's got them is this merc you guys have been involved with."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

The door to Main Engineering opened with its accustomed hiss, letting Shepard and Garrus walk into what looked like a standoff between three people. The first two facing off against a woman at a terminal.

The fourth was an average looking man dressed in a shirt that looked like it had its sleeves ripped off. A cap turned backward on his head, armed with a compacted pistol on his hip and an actual physical knife sheathed opposite. He casually leaned against the wall, looking on amused. He was the only one to notice Shepard and Garrus enter. His eyes moved from Garrus, to Shepard giving only a single nod in greeting. Shepard easily noticed the fading of his amusement into concern, as the stranger looked him over.

In the standoff, a brown haired man shook his head, obviously frustrated with how things were going. "Look lass, I'm not saying you don't know what you're talking about, but that just isn't going to work."

The woman addressed had her back to Shepard, showing a long mane of dark curly hair. She seemed just as amused as the one against the wall when she replied. "Sure it will. Look…"

Shepard turned to Garrus. He nodded to the woman who was talking, indicating that was who he was looking for. Shepard turned back noting she brought up several screens, moving them around and pointing out her points. "We used them on the Exiled and they worked great. Once these capacitors are installed, they will quadruple power output and cut down on dangerous spikes. We had a similar problem when we installed some high need tech and developed this system specifically for that issue. Keep in mind, our drive core was no where near as powerful as the Normandy's but we're installing a lot of tech and have plans for even more high demand systems. We're going to need the power."

"I think what Kenneth is trying to say," The woman next to frustrated engineer said, "is that these designs don't make sense. The tech you want to install shouldn't do what you say it's going to."

"Exactly what Gabby said." Kenneth agreed, looking thankful someone was on his side.

"Of course it doesn't make sense. It's tinkertech." Hebert obviously stated. "But it's _proven_ tinkertech. If each unit is built _exactly_ to the blueprint, it will work."

Frustration getting the better of him, Kenneth threw his hands up. "You canna just install tech like that! Lassie, I've studied these engines until I see them in me sleep. Bloody hell, I was one of the engineers to build the ruddy things. I'm telling you, these designs won't do what you say they will."

Again Hebert shook her head, pulling up another host of screens over the terminal she was working on. "Look, hyperspace mathematics isn't something I'm good at explaining, so talk to Atlas and Greg. He built them and Atlas was able to figure out how he did it. The tech is sound and I'm telling you it will work, it has worked, we've been using them for years, and we need this system if we're going to get the Cloak working with the Internal Emissions Sink. The Normandy has way more surface area to conceal, than the Exiled. Back me up here..."

Hebert froze when she turned to address the man against the wall and noticed Shepard and Garrus. The frustration on her own face, giving way to complete surprise as their eyes met. Where before her voice was assertive, confident, it was shaky, barely audible, when she noticed him. "...S-Sebastian."

"Commander!" Gabby jabbed Kenneth in the side before snapping a crisp salute. Taking the hint, Kenneth followed suit though both of them seemed more shocked at Hebert's address than his sudden appearance.

Shepard's own shock at who was in front of him had him replying before he could even finish a clear thought. "Marleen?"

Thankfully, no one reacted to his slip, his own voice being low enough that he doubted anyone heard it, except for Garrus who turned slightly to him. Whatever his thoughts, the turian quickly masked his own surprise as he watched this play out.

Shepard's shock quickly passed as he realized the discrepancies. While they were close, they wouldn't have passed for twins by any stretch. They had similar hair and height, but Hebert was thinner, more muscular now that his shock was passing and he took the time to accurately look her over. Wider eyes than Marleen's, with blue eyes far darker from what he could see through Hebert's visor. Other differences between them extended to the obvious, that Marleen was the absolute last person to take up mercing, with her pacifist views, and Hebert seemed to be quite comfortable with the knife sheathed at her back and the pistol strapped and holstered to her thigh. That didn't even include the insect themed omni tool and armor she wore over her right side completely covering her shoulder, arm and hand. Marleen was phobic for damn near every bug Mindoir had.

His inspection didn't go unnoticed, nor unreturned. Hebert looked him over just as carefully in the awkward silence that descended within the room. Her eyes moved over him in a way that made Shepard wonder who she was comparing him too. The emotion on her face shifted from surprise, concern, to a strange mix of happy and sadness before it became a blank slate. She took several halting steps closer until she stood right in front of him, looking searchingly into his eyes. The only warning he had was a slight flaring in her large eyes, before she reared back and decked him with everything she had.

It was far more than he would have initially given her credit for, had he realized what she was going to do.

Unprepared, his head snapped to the side, his surprise at the ferocity and strength of the hit costing him his balance. Laying on the ground he slowly rolled over, familiar pain blossomed where her armored fist struck him. The two engineers looked on in absolute shock, while the guy against the wall sighed, eying Garrus intently enough the turian stayed where he was. Hebert stood above him, every bit of her focus directly on him.

Her expression remained completely blank of emotion, except for the tears Shepard noticed accumulating in her eyes. When she spoke, her words were just as quiet as when she said his name. "Next time you decide to play the hero and get it into your head to get yourself killed, you need to remember something."

Rubbing his aching jaw, Shepard remained where he was when he replied. "That would be?"

"I haven't give you permission to die."

Shepard blinked as, without another word, Hebert turned and walked straight out of engineering. His eyes followed her before the man against the wall moved toward him, offering his hand and helping him up.

"She heard you, just so you know." The stranger smirked at Shepard once he was on his feet. "Just be glad she doesn't have many bugs to work with right now. That could have gone a lot worse."

Still feeling like he was missing half of what was going on, Shepard nodded anyways. "You are?"

"Steve, out of costume." The Steve introduced, still smirking. "Uber in the field. It's good to have you back, man. You've been missed but, ah, I wouldn't forget Taylor's name like that again. You know, just some friendly advice."

"Yeah, I see that…" Shepard mumbled.

"Like I said, could have been worse. Give it a few day's and ask me about Rio and I'll tell you about the poor bastard who knows what I'm talking about." Steve laughed. "Preferably when she's not around though. I've been bee'd before and I'd rather not repeat the experience."

With that, Steve left through the same door Hebert walked through. Shepard was still looking at the door, more than a little puzzled when Garrus stepped beside him. "I see you're still inexplicably popular with the ladies, Shepard."

"Shut up, Vakarian."

"You know, I'm a bit insulted. All our time hunting Saren and you never once mentioned Hebert."

"I might have if I did, Garrus." Shepard mumbled, rubbing his jaw. "I have absolutely no idea who that woman is…"

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Steve walked through the second door, entering the cargo bay observation hallway. Concerned eyes instantly locked on Taylor leaning against the wall in tears, mumbling to herself. He didn't catch any of it until he moved beside her.

"What the hell was I thinking? Never should have… What the fuck am I doing here? I'm going to get us all killed…"

Concern growing, Steve put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

"...so stupid. I can't, can't do this…"

"Oh, hell." Steve sighed, taking the catatonic woman into his arms. Taylor's shaking body leaned easily into his own, but her words continued to lose cohesion evolving into a panicked mumble. "I was wondering when it was going to really hit you. Atlas?"

The synthetic immediately responded softly. "How can I provide assistance, Uber?"

"Who's free?"

"Rorrim is currently unattached to any task."

"Alright. Page her and let her know Taylor needs her. Let the others know as well, maybe they can break away for a bit, but on the quiet, okay? Let's keep this to just the old crowd."

"At once."

In his arms, Taylor's body still shook. Sobs interspacing various words that didn't make any sense to him as he led her to the elevator. "Come on, let's get you out here before someone see's you and figures out that you are human, after all..."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Shepard stepped into the room that Garrus said was his new quarters. It was way bigger than what he had on the old Normandy, and far more than Shepard was sure he was comfortable with. One entire wall was even devoted to a fish tank, of all damn things, currently empty and just cycling a fortune in water. He had access to his own bathroom and shower, and office area. Shaking his head he took several steps forward noticing bed that was obviously anything but military standard next to more personal storage than he'd ever had access to. One military footlocker, that was the standard on a military ship for personnel. Standards that were obviously not followed in creating this lavish room. There was even a living area complete with couch, coffee table, and even end tables.

His old apartment on Arcturus Station when they were building the SR-1 wasn't this spacious.

Shaking his head, he moved to the office area, and the terminal sitting there. Taking a seat, he started the extranet search he came here for. After his run in with Hebert, he continued to tour the ship. The sheer amount of effort being made by the few on board, was astounding. Refitting lab space for research, full repair and manufacturing stations for small arms and armor, not to mention all plans to refit the various locations onboard that would turn the new Normandy into not just a warship of unparalleled ability, but also act as a mobile command center that would have made any Alliance Admiral drool with envy.

Shepard shook it off, instead concentrating on his search. After an hour he confirmed just about everything the he discovered so far on this bizarre day, which surprised, as well as disgusted him. It seemed that after his death, there was a scramble to quietly discredit his warnings about the Reaper threat. Lack of evidence to confirm his 'accusations' led to the current party line.

Officially the Council ruled the Reaper threat to be a 'Misunderstanding due to poor intelligence'. Sovereign was ruled as a Geth construct with Saren as their controller. Political pressure both within the Alliance and from the Council itself shut down any but the barest of attempts to prove otherwise. Specifically one team was sent to Ilos to try and confirm his story but the VI Shepard interacted with was gone. With only the mission reports and eyewitness accounts of his team to prove the Reapers were real, it was easily ruled as unsubstantiated and therefore inadmissible. It was still a hot topic in some circles, namely conspiracy theorists which did nothing to help the situation. As he looked backward over the time he was… inactive, he could easily see the shift from discounting evidence, to when they started discrediting him personally.

The Council disavowed anything to do with the Reapers as nothing more than propaganda spread by a deranged ex-Spectre about six months after his fall. Humanity had its seat on the Council now but that didn't mean it was sunny days and roses for them. The prestige of having a say in Council decisions gave Humanity a great deal of political, as well as economic power. However data showed there were a lot of people who didn't want to rock the boat or disrupt the current status quo. Various news feeds and reports showed the underlining fact that if Humanity wanted to keep its seat on the Council with the prestige and privileges it gave, then they would need to go with the community. It all boiled down to unless the Council said the threat was real, no one will do anything.

Shepard also managed to confirm a few instances of human colonies going dark. All ruled as acts of slavers or pirates. So far only human colonies had been affected so the Council ruled it a human matter. Since humanity was now a Council race, the Alliance's hands were tied since everything was happening in the Terminus. There were more than a few nasty articles detailing the apparent knowtoeing being done by the Alliance to the Council on the issue of non intervention policy in place with those systems. Judging by the public relations propaganda, the Alliance worked to secure what they could for human colonies in Council Space but that was the extent of their reach within the current climate.

It was bitter pill to swallow.

"Establish long range communication with Councilor Anderson at the Citadel. Priority, Nox-Echo." Shepard spoke aloud.

"Enabling encoding… Establishing connection... Stand by." EDI's soft voice answered him.

Shepard nodded. Back channel communications would take a few minutes to process since it required Anderson to get alone before he could accept the call. He leaned back, eyes drifting over the desk when it's contents started registering. Several books, real and familiar books, rested on it. Along with a framed plaque holding every metal he ever earned. Surprised he picked it up looking closer. They weren't just replications, they were his actual metals. Looking around he noticed several other items that shouldn't have been here.

"EDI?"

"Yes, Commander?"

"While I was, ah recovering, did anyone happen to take a trip out of system? To like, say, Intai'sei?" He asked.

"Yes, Commander. A shakedown course was plotted that included a stop at the planet Intai'sei were Operative Hebert left the ship to visit the planet via shuttle craft. We were in orbit for approximately seven hours before she returned. Since then, the Normandy has remained in stationary orbit over this location."

"That explains that." Shepard mumbled as he continued to look around. "Thank you EDI, that will be all."

"Of course, Shepard. Logging you out."

With time to spare he left the desk behind taking a closer look around the room, well his room he supposed. This time looking for, and finding, several mementos he left behind on Intai'sei. Mementos like the asari writings he collected from discovered cashes he liberated. His League of One medallions were framed, hanging from the wall above the couch. Next to it, the Turian Emblems from the colonies lost during their Unification War. That weird Prothean sphere he found on Eletania was even sitting center stage on the coffee table. Looking back to his desk, he noticed the Prothean data discs he was never able to access sitting next to his framed holo of the old ground team.

Shepard walked over, picking it up. He easily remembered when it was taken. It was just after the Battle. Wrex stood with his arms folded in front of him slightly turned away from the camera. A disgruntled look on his face from the sentimentality they were indulging in. Garrus sat on top of the overturned Mako with his sniper rifle pointed upward. Liara and Kaiden stood with their backs to the broken vehicle on either side of Shepard. Then there he was, standing next to Tali in the middle. She was holding him upright since he hadn't had the time to get his damaged ribs looked at yet. The background showed the burning wreckage that was the Presidium at the time but the entire team was smiling inanely, except for Wrex, despite the devastation around them. Battle armor scorched and broken, obviously fresh from their victory over Sovereign.

He was broken from his thoughts by the EDI. "Connection Established."

Shepard turned to face display case in front of his desk that suddenly became a huge vid screen. It was comical to see the look of stunned surprise on his old friend's face as he put the holo back down. "My God..."

Shepard straightened his back and snapped a crisp salute but couldn't keep his amusement completely hidden. "Something tells me I had best get used to that reaction. Good to see you too, Sir."

His words didn't quite break the older man's stupor. "I can't believe she was right… I didn't expect I would ever see you again, Shepard. Especially after I attended your funeral."

"Did you have a body to bury, Sir?" Shepard inquired very interested.

Anderson blinked before shaking his head. "No, no we didn't. Joker's report stated you were spaced before you could get into the bridges escape pod. It was ruled you must have fallen into the planet's atmosphere with the rest of the Normandy's wreckage. The odds of a body surviving re-entry were astronomical. No search was made."

Shepard nodded, retaking his seat at the desk. He really wasn't sure how to take that yet. He held up the data pad he acquired from Chakwas before coming up here. "According to this; it, well _I_ was recovered by mercs a week later from orbit. I guess there really isn't any way to confirm it now."

Both men looked at each other for an awkward moment before Anderson spoke. "There's really no way to ask this question delicately, Shepard, so I'll just say it. How is it I'm talking to a dead man?"

Shepard grimaced. "Cerberus. Their leader put together a team to bring me back. Best as I can tell I am Sebastian Shepard. Memories are intact except for the last week before the Normandy was destroyed, something both Liara and Garrus can attest to. They've asked me a lot of questions today. I'm not exactly 'stock' anymore. Maybe forty kilo's tech heavy, but still me.

"The reason I'm contacting you has to do with why Cerberus brought me back. From what I've gathered from the people I'm with, they had two goals in mind when they started this whole thing. Short term they wanted me to discover what is happening to our colonies in the Terminus Systems. Long Term, help them fight the Reapers. Data is suggestive that there isn't anyone else doing it. I've been dead, so I don't really know what is going on. I only woke up eighteen hours ago but I can say I'm not fond of what I've been told or what I'm seeing so far."

"That's a lot to take in all at once, Shepard."

The ex-Specter snorted. "Try waking up to this. I died two years ago and at that time we stood united against the Reapers. Yeah, the Alliance and the Council were doing what they could to keep me out of the loop, but we were still preparing. I was barely in the ground when that entire scenario flipped. Then I get revived by an organization which stands for everything I don't believe in and my still recovering body get's stolen by a merc company who apparently trusts Cerberus less than I do. Now here I am, alive again, and it turns out the only ones who believe that the threat is real are these people, and Cerberus."

His mentor sighed. "I've tried to get them to see reason but what it comes down to is that they're scared."

Shepard nodded seriously. "They fucking should be, I'm terrified. Thanks to that Prothean Cypher I have burned into my brain, I know exactly what's coming. _In detail_."

"I know but after Shep… _you_ , died nothing happened. Life kept going and we couldn't dig up anything to substantiate your claims. We tried Shepard."

"Fine, but that is going to be cold comfort when the Reapers show up and start shooting. If what I'm seeing about these human colonies disappearing is right, that fight might have already started. That seems to be the consensus here anyways." Shepard stated. "What is it going to take, Anderson, before people realize the danger we are facing?"

Anderson smiled wanly. "Proof. Incontrovertible proof. You know what the council is like. They wouldn't believe that Saren betrayed them, until we provided that data file you found."

"So then we need proof, Something they can't ignore. Reinstate me and I can do that."

He'd known Anderson for years and could easily see the hesitation in his face. "You know it's not that easy...Commander."

"I don't see why not." Shepard returned stone faced. "The Reaper threat is real, and they are coming. Hell, they might already even be here if these disappearing colonies are anything to go by. We need to do something, and it needs to be done now."

"It's not a matter of wanting to Shepard. You should know that. The council has the Alliance tied down tight. Even if I wanted to, there's no way I can divert anything for this much less put it in your command. You're still listed as Killed in Action. You're no longer in the Alliance nor are you a Spectre. To be honest with you, I'm not even entirely convinced you are really… _you._ "

Even if he half expected this reaction, Shepard still had to fight not to grit his teeth. "As for me, Chakwas herself examined me and I can send you her findings, as well as everything Cerberus did to rebuild me. All evidence shows, I am really me. If there was ever a doctor's findings you could trust, it's Hacksaw's."

As Shepard hoped, Anderson's face lighted up at hearing that. Hoping to keep it going, Shepard continued, "A bit ago, you said you couldn't believe 'She was right'. I take it you've met Hebert?"

"Yes, she found me on the Citadel and told me you were alive. She said she needed Alliance access to narrow down where you were being...healed." Anderson admitted hesitantly. "I didn't believe her, though some of the intelligence she gave us was more on the money than I liked."

"I'm not surprised, considering how much effort she's gone into setting things up on this end." Shepard closed his eyes trying to rub his frustration from the bridge of his nose. "Just to be clear, I'm on my own with this, right?"

"Shepard, look why don't you come in to the Citadel. I'll make sure you get an audience with the Council and we can see what we can do. At the very least, you can plead your case."

"And while I spend the next few months as the Alliance's lab rat, the Reapers continue to advance and no one is getting evidence to the contrary, much less doing anything about it. We've already lost two years, Anderson, we can't afford to lose any more time on this."

"You can't do this on your own, son." Anderson stated compassionately making Shepard smile weakly at the familiar address.

"I might not be as alone as you think." Shepard was quiet for a few moments as he went over his early observations. "Just for the record, _when_ I get hard evidence?"

"I'll personally ram it down Spartcus's throat until he chokes 'Uncle'." Anderson vowed.

Shepard couldn't help but laugh. Just the image of Anderson holding down the surly Turian while shoving a data pad down his mouth while screaming at him was hilarious. It did a lot to dispel the gloomy thoughts that had taken root. "I'm going to hold you to that."

He reached over to disconnect the feed. "What are you going to do Shepard?"

"Get proof." He stated finishing his action and closing the comm line.

"He didn't believe you, did he?"

Shepard jumped in his seat, hand reaching under the desk even as he turned to the feminine voice behind him. He wasn't sure what surprised him more, that there actually was a pistol sheathed under the desk, or who was standing by the door behind him.

Hebert raised her arm, seemingly unsurprised by his actions. "Yeah and it works, just so you know. There's also a sub machine pistol under the coffee table, two more pistols on either side of the bed, and a shotgun in your dresser."

He remained quiet as he looked her over. Her eyes were a bit red and she'd changed since he saw her earlier in engineering. Most noticeable was the lack of any weapon on her person, as well as the lack of right arm, which surprised him greatly. He thought the armor was ornamentation, not an actual prosthetic. He was broken from his thoughts when Hebert continued, "I was hoping we could talk. I even disarmed and everything."

Shepard snorted. "That has to be the worst pun in history, and I say that having served with Joker."

Hebert shrugged, giving him a weak smile. "Sorry, I'm not really good at this stuff. You know, people stuff. I generally do much better when people are trying to kill me."

Letting go of the pistol, Shepard chuckled. "Sounds familiar. How much did you hear?"

"Just the last part, that you were going to get proof." Hebert admitted as she lowered her arm. "Sorry, about earlier. You didn't deserve that welcome. I-I just wasn't expecting you to be standing there, or to mistake me for someone...else."

"Okay, I can see that." Shepard said, rising and extending his hand. "So why don't we start over. I have questions that you have answers to, but let's start with introductions. Sebastian Shepard."

Taking the hint, she immediately shook his hand. "Taylor Hebert.

Shepard moved to the couch, gesturing to it. "When I met with Liara earlier, she hinted that you had a 'hard to believe story' to tell me."

"Something like that. I think it's closer to impossible, than hard to believe, but I guess that it depends on your tolerance for weird." Taylor sat on the far end from him. "Sorry about decorating things for you, but I picked them up from your safe house when I was there getting your files for you. I just figured it might be more welcoming than having a bunch of boxes lying around when you came in. Did I get everything put up alright?"

"Strangely, everything is exactly where I would have put it. Something I would really like an explanation on."

"Yeah, I bet you would." Taylor nodded, taking a deep breath. "Okay, so here it goes. My name really is Taylor Hebert. I was born on Earth, 1998. Just not the Earth of this dimension. In my reality, I am what we call, a Parahuman. Meaning, I have powers. Just not powers like you have. Somehow, you ended up on my world a bit before my powers triggered. We met about three months after that, there on my world, and formed a team together. It took us a year, but with the help of my friends, and some of the most bizarre tinkertech we could create or get our hands on, we managed to travel across dimensions and time to get here. All so that we could pay back the debt each of us owes you."

Shepard blinked. "I need a beer."

"End Table has a mini fridge hidden in it." Taylor pointed out. Shepard immediately rose and went to retrieve it, finding several bottles inside that he didn't recognize. Taylor answered his unasked question when he paused. "I wasn't sure what you liked that was available here, but you liked those, back on Earth Bet."

Shepard turned, looking across the couch to the young woman sitting there, biting her lip worriedly. "Why do I have the impression, _this_ isn't even the hard to believe part?"

"That's what I always admired about you, Sebastian. You can take a Tuesday better than most." Taylor's smile showed her nervousness. "I know this is weird, I know this sounds unbelievable, but I'm telling you the truth. If our powers are not enough to convince you, we've brought all our footage from those days. You came into my…into each of our lives and changed us. Made each of us realize we could be so much more than what we were. Losing you the way we did showed us that our people didn't deserve it, so we came here to win a future of our own with the people we thought would."

Still kneeling, Shepard studied Hebert's face, looking for the truth in her statements. In a business like his, dealing with the sort of people he had to deal with, knowing when someone was lying was all he had to go on. To know a lie when it was spoken was often the difference between life and death. His own or someone else's, either his squadmates or the enemy. Then or down the line. As he studied her, he came to a starting realization.

Taylor wasn't lying.

Shepard sighed. "You want a beer?"

"I'll probably need one, to tell you get everything out." Taylor whispered.

"Alright," Shepard started, grabbing two bottles. "Start from the beginning…"


	18. Blue on Black 1

**Blue on Black Story Arc: 4.1**

It was the little things that truly reinforced just how different his current circumstances were to those of the past. A prime example was the spare blanket he pulled from the storage unit under the bed. Military ships were very strictly climate controlled to maintain an optimum temperature; in other words, it was never too hot or too cold. The how's and why's of whatever decided that were most likely the result of someone, somewhere, at some point taking painstaking effort to research it. Probably costing three times the credits said knowledge was even worth. Nonetheless, that bit affected a wide variety of other things, like the blanket in his hands.

Military blankets were thin, often of a material type that complimented the climate control equation in some manner. There was something about sleeping that necessitated a blanket, some kind of psychological need he figured, at least for humans. As his mind rambled along, Shepard realized he wasn't actually very sure how turians or volus felt about the issue, but he was fairly confident that quarians didn't really care; what with having to live within their suits for all but a fraction of their lives.

However, as was probably the case ever since the concept of organized military forces, military effects usually meant 'the best possible using the cheapest resources'. That translated to thin blankets. Just enough to possibly satisfy the need for said blanket, without _actually_ satisfying said need. Spend enough time in the military, and most got used to it.

The blanket Shepard draped over the semi-conscious woman on the couch was obviously not of military origin. It was thicker for one, and obviously of better quality than anything he'd personally ever used before. A fact he was fairly sure Hebert would have appreciated if she'd been even marginally sober. As it was, her wide glassy eyes appeared even larger as she stared listlessly at the massively bottle cluttered coffee table, though once the blanket was in place Shepard noticed her eyes immediately started to droop.

Sighing, Shepard ran his hand through his shorn hair as he contemplated everything he'd been told. Unlike the young woman in front of him, he wasn't nearly close to insensible. For all that he appeared to have matched her, he actually drank a fifth of what she did.

Had to give Hebert credit, she held her liquor better than most marines he worked with in the past and that said something. Far better than he initially gave her credit for considering she couldn't have weighed more than a hundred and twenty; and that was being generous.

The thing that bothered him the most about this encounter was that her story stayed consistent. Careful questioning, reaffirming facts as the night progressed showed that. What she told him from the start, was what she told him as the alcohol wore down inhibitions; slurred speech and disjointed sentences aside. It also sent her on side tangents that had been completely irrelevant to the conversation, but did give him a wider picture of this inexplicable, and unbelievable, situation.

Shepard shook his head. Alternate dimensions, time travel, a world where humanity had powers that made biotics appear to be nothing interesting. And somehow he'd ended up there, met Hebert, and formed a team to help the city he found himself in. Then he died...again. It made everything he'd dealt with prior seem almost sane.

Wasn't that just a frightening thought.

Mind still turning everything over, Shepard moved toward the door. Hebert mentioned she had footage from hardsuit and weapon cams of most of her old operations. She mentioned her teammate, Baker if he remembered right, could get him access. Didn't Liara mention earlier that she'd seen some of them? As his steps carried him through his quarters, Shepard felt pretty sure he remembered something like that. She would have said something if they were forgeries. Not that that little tidbit did anything for his apprehension.

That was something he wished he thought of himself when he was hunting Saren. Half the problem he had with the council was lack of proof. If they'd seen the things they fought, listened to Sovereign or Saren, or hell, if they had something like Taylor's set up for when they made their run on Ilos so they could have documented what Vigil told them, they'd never have doubted the truth about the Reapers.

Well, maybe. They were a stubborn bunch of bureaucrats at the best of times but he could have forced their hands if they pushed and released unedited video on the extranet. Hebert obviously thought about it early in what she called her 'cape career'. That or it was something his future self thought of and instilled the practice in her. Being able to see events she described and informed him about would go a long way to helping him understand where she came from, and who exactly he was dealing with now.

With that in mind, Shepard punched the indicator on the door only to step back in surprise at what was waiting on the other side. The ship's varen stood right in front of him; a stack of datapads behind him near the elevator door showed he must have been there for a while. Shepard raised an eyebrow as Urz stepped closer, giving him a long sniff followed quickly by a snort; obviously dismissing him. Bemused, Shepard watched the varen trot into his cabin until he stood next to Hebert where he started nuzzling her face.

Hebert's hand slipped from the blanket, drunkenly reaching for the animal. Even from where Shepard was standing, he easily heard her slurred greeting. "Hey Urz. You have really, really big eyeballs, you know that?"

The varen settled himself protectively next to the giggling woman, her arm half draped over him. His bobulous eyes started right at him leaving Shepard with no doubt that he wasn't welcome to approach, nor remain. Shaking his head at the strange duo, Shepard walked through the door picking up the stack of datapads, then entered the elevator heading to deck three. He needed coffee if this day was to get any weirder and it wasn't like he was a stranger to doing most of his thinking in the mess.

As the elevator lowered, Shepard shuffled through the datapads taking stock of their contents. Thankful for something normal to distract him from his thoughts. Facility refits, prisoner updates along with detailed dossiers on each of them, several upgrade progress reports, and even a full inventory of non-essential extras. Garrus wasn't kidding when he mentioned Hebert had a plan, and wasn't shy about getting things done. Everything mentioned seemed to be according to some greater design, at least from the phrasing he was noticing as he scanned through the contents. He shook his head again for what seemed like the hundredth time tonight. How in the hell did Hebert kept track of all of this?

The elevator opened with the expected hiss allowing Shepard through. He was almost around the dividing wall that separated half the deck when he heard a frustrated voice break the silence of his thoughts.

"I'm just sayin', she's killed people for less."

The speaker was the young man he met in Engineering, Baker. He must have been talking to Liara since she was the only other person in the room. Shepard raised his eyebrow even as he watched Liara roll hers, still dressed as she was yesterday but sitting at the mess island. "As much as I appreciate her combat abilities, I doubt she would 'kill' me for using her tea pot to make a cup of _Ulan_. I would have cleaned it afterward."

"Shit, you don't know Taylor very well then." Baker muttered as he painstakingly washed something at the sink. "She sent, like, thirty crabs at Greg two months ago for using it. Which is fucked up since he's hates the little bastards; and keep in mind he was lost into his power when he did it _and_ she likes him. Best rule of thumb when serving with Taylor, don't play with her stuff. She can get downright vicious at times."

"I still think you're overreacting, but very well, I'll take your word for it that she can be a bit possessive about things and will remember that in the future."

"Well, not really possessive, or at least, not really possessive about a lot of stuff. Just her personal stuff; like the tea set, her weapons, and her armor. Stuff like that. Other than that, she's pretty cool about whatever, it's just _her_ stuff, you know?"

"Very well, as I said I will refrain from using her tea pot in the future. However, I do have a question I've been meaning to ask but was concerned how it would be received."

"Yay, awkward questions." The young man at the sink finally moved enough to reveal the object he was cleaning must have been the teapot they were discussing a moment ago. He carefully placed it aside as he turned his attention to Liara, "Hit me."

"Taylor, has she always been so… intense?"

"Yeah, I can see how some people might think so," Baker agreed easily before chuckling to himself. "But that's just Taylor. She's a driven person, always has been, probably always will be. Crazy smart too, which is good for us. Been like that since as far back as I've known her, and Greg and I were there in the beginning. Kind of."

"You don't sound so sure of that." Liara noted.

"Yeah well, it was sort of complicated. Technically we were there her first official night out as a cape. Greg and I just weren't on her team back then." The young man laughed to himself as he continued, "Actually, just the opposite. We tried to beat her up."

"Are you serious?" Liara asked.

Baker's laugh was louder, and more obviously self-mocking. "Yeah. Her and Shepard kicked the crap out of us _and_ the hired muscle we brought along. In all fairness though, we kind of deserved it. Tried to double cross them on a trade deal, our fault really, but that was life in the Bay back then. Greg and I had been operating for a couple of years by that point, and were still alive. Thought that meant something. They proved us wrong, in _spades_."

Liara slowly shook her head. "I find it hard to believe you two used to be enemies. You two seem so close now."

"Well, that's now, you know?"

"If it's not too personal, what changed? What brought you from enemies to working together?"

"Taylor gave us the choice."

"Choice?"

"Yeah, just like the one she's giving to those Cerberus mooks down in the cargo hold. Join, or don't. Except for Greg and me, we were told to join, or get feed to her bugs. Pretty easy choice to make, all things considered."

"She was going to actually use her bugs to devour you?" Liara asked horrified.

"Fucked up, right? Now you see why I said don't mess with her stuff. She's got a temper when crossed." Baker half joked. "Knowing what I know now, I don't think she would have actually done it back then, but Shepard would have probably made us 'disappear' if we'd tried something. Best thing to happen to us, really. Anyways, that was what I meant by how we were sort of there from the start."

"This is the sort of thing that concerns me about Taylor, Steve. That concern being how cavalier she is about those whom she feels opposes her."

"Ah. So what you really want to know is; has Taylor always been so quick to kill." Steve knowingly clarified, his expression giving nothing away.

Liara returned his comment with slight smile, "I was trying to be delicate about it, but yes."

"Maybe, but I'm good with words too, and the meaning being said, but unspoken."

Seeing his hesitation, Liara pressed, "Steve, surely you can understand my concerns, all of you are fairly young, by your species standards, and then there is what she did to Wilson.

"I can commend Taylor on a number of levels yet there is a time to be ruthless with one's enemies and a time to assent to an assets… proclivities. Taylor has displayed one modus operandi before all others; if it is, or can be, a threat, kill it. While I am, personally speaking, long past such ideals that would be easily offended by such a philosophy, I am still concerned about it. Such tactics tend to make more enemies than they eliminate.

"There is also her temperament on ship to consider, especially with some of the people she's asked me to find for her. Most of those names are not known for their stability. Massani and Jack are two at the top of that list. An unstable element in a command position, well, it spells disaster before we've even properly started."

Baker snorted, "Man, I totally wish you would have been around to see how things used to be for us, and the kind of people we've had to deal with on a daily basis in our old line of work. Trust me, Liara, if there is anyone Taylor understands, it's the people on that list she gave you. She'll get along fine with them. As for Wilson, he changed the script. Worse, dickhead though it was funny to send those mechs after defenseless techs and a handful of security guys with pistols. Besides that, Wilson betrayed the Alliance to Cerberus, then Cerberus to the Shadow Broker. You can't trust a guy like that. If Taylor didn't do it, I would have."

"Maybe so, but you didn't answer my question either."

"No, I didn't," Baker stated uncaringly. At Liara's frown, he relented, "but I will. No, she didn't used to be like this. You wouldn't even recognize her from the old days when we first got started. Thing is, you see your friends bleed enough; see the kind of depravity some capes expect to get away with, and it changes you. It changed all of us except for Sharee and Dinah; they weren't outed so didn't have to run with us in exile.

"Hell, even Paige knew the score even if she was never really comfortable with some of the lengths we've had to go through from time to time. You need to understand that we were in a bad place after we lost Chatika and Shepard and not just because we lost two of the strongest people on the team. As much as Taylor hated it, we had a reputation to maintain. We were all still hurting, both physically and mentally from the Endbringer fight when stuff came up, but even then it took a while.

"You see, at first it was just to maintain what Chatika and Shepard died for, what we were all fought for; the better balance in Brockton Bay. Even though we weren't in town anymore, capes still came after us. At first, we'd leave them tied up for the Protectorate to pick up but most of them ended up right back on the streets when their gangs or whatever retrieved them. Then they'd come after us harder, and then some of us started getting hurt. Shit, I'm not even talking about the times several of us almost got killed before we managed to get out of whatever fucked up shit we found ourselves in. When that shit started going down, Taylor started doing things the 'Shepard Way'. You take the first dumb son of a bitch to cross you and hammer him hard enough into the ground that his grand kids are born feeling it. When we started doing that, most backed off, and those that didn't, needed a good killing anyways. That's how you roll, isn't it?"

Baker turned, looking directly into Shepard's eyes. Liara surprised, startled as she followed Baker's gaze finally noticing Shepard standing at the corner of the lift.

"I'm biased," Shepard answered, joining the two at the kitchen island as if he hadn't just been caught eavesdropping. "It's a tactic that's worked for years. Besides, even before I was… spaced, I didn't have a lot of enemies. The work I did was for the Alliance, they had to worry about the fallout of the assignments they sent me on. Usually, when they sent me to do something, they expected the outcome they got. Overall, I'd say your ideal is about Hackett's philosophy though."

"Goddess, Shepard. How long have you been there?" Liara asked.

Baker answered before Shepard finished officially joining them, "Since I was washing Taylor's teapot."

"You knew I was there the entire time?" Shepard asked, looking across the table; setting down the datapads.

"Man, I might not be able to control bugs like Taylor, but that doesn't mean my situational awareness sucks. A guy's got to be pretty quick on the uptake to run with Taylor, much less fight beside her. My hearing and sight are better than most we've come across, if not in the upper ninety nine percentile of non-powered people back on Bet. Here, I dunno, Greg was showing me some affordable gene mods that might put me on the lower end of the nineties now, species depending. I hear Turians can't be matched for eyesight and sense of smell, and according to the extranet, Salarians are unmatched for hearing. Besides, you'd be surprised how many skills I have to pull from, and how often I go through them. Thing about my power, it's not obvious what I'm running. Really, you standing outside my line of sight isn't shit."

Shepard nodded slowly to Baker's points, those he understood and those he didn't. "Hebert mentioned you were the man to talk to about getting access to footage about your team from the time frame you were talking about."

"Yeah, but we never rescinded your old access so you're good to go. I never doubted she'd give you access and updated your old file when we got back from Lazarus Station. Just ask Atlas and you're good."

"Atlas. He's one of the AI's, right? EDI mentioned him when I was talking to Joker earlier."

Baker nodded easily, "Yeah, he's our catch all at the moment but the others don't have access to the old Bet stuff. Taylor wanted to keep that to just a few people outside the team. Why, got a problem with AI's?"

"Only when they try and kill me, which so far has been every one I've met, bar these three but the weeks only getting started."

"True enough," Baker smirked; even Liara chuckled at Shepard's fatalism. "But Atlas is good people, came over with us from Bet. We've worked with him ever since his falling out with Dragon."

At the confused look on their faces, Baker clarified. "She's an AI too, back on Earth Bet. Dragon is kinda like his sister. Atlas was actually supposed to be what Dragon later became but his creator didn't like how he questioned everything so he locked him up.

"Dragon had a similar problem with him when he was staying with her at the Birdcage, but that was sort of expected. She's one of the top heroes on Bet, or was I guess, and has a big image to uphold. Atlas is more of a free spirit and being under the Guild's thumb really wasn't his style. Even if they were better than the pricks we had to deal with in the PRT. Anyways, it was a couple of months after we lost you and Chatika when he joined us. The only thing he's ever asked of us was to treat him similarly to how we treated Chatika, you know; like a real person and he's been a dead useful teammate."

Baker's explanation did nothing for the confusion on their faces. When he noticed, he rolled his eyes, "Watch the vids, man. You'll pick it up. Like you've probably figured out by now, we've gotten around."

"Yeah, I can see that." Shepard mumbled as he picked up one of the data pads. "According to these, you've been pretty busy."

After a moment of silence were Shepard re-sorted the data pads, he raised his head looking to Liara before turning back to Baker, "I spoke to Anderson earlier. I don't think he believes I'm really me, much less alive. Probably won't until I personally go to the Citadel and let his people give me an examination as well as this data you got from wherever it was they were fixing me. On top of that, he told me the Council flat out refuses to acknowledge the Reaper threat and won't until we find undeniable proof."

Liara nodded. "What he was insinuating is that Sparatus and Valern require ironclad proof. Councilor Tevos is the embodiment of my people, or as I've heard you say once, Shepard; A Diplomat's Diplomat. Unwilling to take any stand without the backing of one or more of her peers. Of course, then there are asari interests I am sure she is tasked to monitor for the Matriarchy.

"Of those on the Council, convincing Valern would tip the balance in our favor, but would also require almost as much effort as it would to convince Sparatus to change sides. If we managed to convince the Salarian Councilor of the threat, that would create a new majority. Enough so that Tevos would hopefully come to our aid. Though there would still be the possibility that she would maintain the deadlock, though I've rarely heard of her not voting with Valern. Sadly however, whatever evidence we provided would need to pass through the Salarian STG to be re-verified, and that will be the hard part. Nothing I have access to would accomplish it, though I did find something new. Granted, it is not much, but I received something that confirms Taylor's speculation about who is abducting human colonies in the Terminus."

Shepard leaned forward, "She didn't mention she knew who was behind it when I talked to her earlier. What did you find?"

"I only received it an hour ago and haven't had a chance to inform her." Liara returned. "Just prior to our assault to take out the Shadow Broker I talked with Taylor about what she thought was coming. Both in concern to you, and with the Reapers. Taylor informed me that she was absolutely certain that the Collectors were working for the Reapers, if not being actively controlled by them in some way. She wasn't sure which. I've… crossed paths with them once and can tell you it is not beyond the realm of possibility for them to be so involved."

"Who are the 'Collectors'? I've never heard of them, are they some kind of merc group?" Shepard asked.

"No." Liara answered with a bemused smirk. "Though it's not surprising you don't know about them. They've something of a Terminus myth. According to the rumors, the Collectors are an advanced race who live beyond the Omega 4 relay. As a matter of fact, they are the only known space faring race who know how to traverse it safely. Very little else is known about them aside from the fact that they appear rarely. Usually trading cutting edge technology to those who provide them with captives. If rumor is to be believed, they are very picky about what they want. Often asking for specific races, usually with very specific genetic abnormalities."

"Ominous. That's all we have on them?"

"Unfortunately, yes. They are a very enigmatic race, Shepard. Even the Shadow Broker didn't have much to go on than that, though his database does suggest they are involved with the Reapers in some manner. From what I have gathered, he believed they served them similarly to how Saren did."

"Indoctrination." Shepard frowned as he turned to Baker. "Do you know anything about this?"

The man across from him shook his head. "Man, I know less than you do. Taylor's mentioned them a few times, but just that they were the bad guys we're here to curbstomp. Other than that, I don't know dick."

Shepard couldn't help but smile at the man's unique way of talking. Turning to Liara as she continued, "Yes, indoctrination, though he had nothing to back it. Still, I put out feelers among my contacts, both old and new, looking for information no matter how obscure. Then I received a communique from an unexpected source that confirms that the Collectors are indeed involved with the abductions of human colonies. "

"An unexpected source?"

Liara smiled softly. "Tali."

"Tali," Shepard repeated surprised. "Garrus said Tali returned to the Fleet."

"She did." Liara confirmed. "But that was two years ago, Shepard. From her communique, she leads her own team of research techs and Migrant Fleet Marines now. Sadly, I admit I haven't keep in contact with her as much as I should have in the past and didn't know this. However, it is fortuitous for us since she was in transit in between assignments when she diverted her team to a human colony called Freedom's Progress after she lost contact with a young pilgrimage quarian she was acquainted with whom was staying there. I'm sorry to say the entire colony was gone by the time she arrived. Same scenario as in the other colonies who went dark; nothing was taken. Meals were even laid out partially eaten, vid screens still turned on. In all respects it was just another day except for the fact that every single sentient being was gone from the colony. Except for her friend.

"According to Tali, her friend is rather shy, even by quarian standards, and I've gathered he might be troubled. In either case, he's utilized an interesting tech combination for his suit. Tali theorizes that whatever it was must have somehow masked him from the Collectors scanners because they missed him when they took everyone else. Because of this, Veetor, that's her friend, managed to get a lot of readings with his omni tool, as well as hack the colonies surveillance system. He was able to record the entire abduction. Tali said she'd forward me the omni tool data to send on to the Alliance as soon as she returns Veetor to the Fleet. She also said that it was very disturbing viewing."

"You didn't tell her I was back though." Shepard noted neutrally.

Shepard's eyes narrowed slightly as Liara looked away as she fidgeted in her seat. "That isn't something one sends over an unsecured extranet line, much less in an impersonal message, Shepard. Especially considering how we reacquired you. I did tell her we needed to talk, very soon. She said she'd try to organize some down time for her team and would message me when we could meet."

Shepard slowly nodded, though he didn't like it. Then again, it was pretty well known among the old crew that he had a soft spot for her. Partly from feeling responsible for her after rescuing her from Finch's thugs. The situation felt like a missed opportunity, but he didn't press Liara on it.

"It would have been nice to have a chance to talk to her again, but I can understand. Hopefully Tali will find some time soon. How much longer do you think we're going to need to remain dark? If you're right about the Collectors, we need to be out there fighting them, not sitting here hiding. Though I don't see how we're going to pull that off without the Council or the Alliance backing us."

"What do you mean?" Baker asked. "Taylor tried to get them on board to find you, and that Anderson guy blew her off. From what you said, he doesn't even think you're really you anyway."

"We need funding." Shepard explained. "I don't know how you did things before you came here, but Starships do not run on hope and magic. They run on Helium-3 and with techs who know how to keep system's from blowing up. Techs need pay, and Helium-3 is expensive. That doesn't even account for supplies like food, water, and other necessities. I noticed Hebert ordered an inventory to be made of what is available but that isn't going to get us far, nor for very long. Without a financial backer, like the Alliance, we're not going to get very far, and that's not even the full extent of the things we need to acquire."

Liara nodded. "True, and while I can arrange for some things, the Shadow Broker's network is not built to fund us long term. I can arrange for some things to come our way, but the organization is structured as an information brokerage. It's not meant to fund an effort the likes we are embarking on. Credits that do not generate a return of some type will mean less reliable intel later. I know Taylor has a lot of plans to upgrade the Normandy, but such an endeavor is beyond my abilities to orchestrate."

"Well, we killed all the Brokers' guys on his station so that has to free up some funds right?" Baker pointed out dryly. "Seriously, it couldn't have been cheap to run that place. Just bring that money here."

"True," Liara acknowledged. "And as I stated, I can and will make what I can available. However, we still need Intel and despite the fact the Broker has agents in a lot of places, information gathering like we need for what we need, isn't going to be easy, nor quick. There is a balance we need to strike, and if we can get the Council on our side, or even the Alliance, that could tip things even further into our favor."

Shepard nodded to Liara's points as he turned back to her. "We should head to the Citadel as soon as Tali sends you that data. It's probably not enough to convince them about the Reapers, but it might be enough for them to allow the Alliance to do something about the Collectors. We can take Chakwas and the Cerberus data with us, which should convince them I'm really me. Anderson handpicked her for the original Normandy crew, he trusts her and even the Council can't nay say her credentials."

Baker's frown went unnoticed when a new voice spoke behind them. "Set the course, Steve."

Three pairs of eyes turned to the speaker, noticing Hebert slightly swaying by the main mess table behind them. Urz standing next to her, huge unblinking eyes seemingly fixated on Shepard. Baker blinked as he took in Hebert's unsteady posture. "Man, you okay?"

"I'm fine," Hebert slurred curtly. "Just very, _very,_ drunk. Set course for the Citadel."

"Drunk? What the fuck, Taylor? I thought we had that shit sorted after Rio. Hell, Paige told me she has to practically force drinks down you when she took you clubbing during down time."

"Blame Shepard." Taylor stated with a sloppy shrug that actually caused her swaying to get worse as well as almost costing her precarious balance. "He decided to get me hammered to see if my story would change the more intoxicated I got. Not a bad tactic, but that wasn't the first time someone's done that to me. Don't worry; I'm only using flies and other filler bugs to maintain my balance. I'll be fine in a bit, just set the course Shepard wants."

Baker's eyes darted to Shepard before looking back at Taylor. "Ah, what about Cessi and Lia? I thought we were sticking around for the _Alari_ to pick them up and take the Broker's Ship off our hands?"

"Soldier Boy wants to go to the Citadel. I'll go through a detox treatment in Mr. Doctor and then explain the change in plans to them. We have enough rations for them to hang around for a month, much less the two days it's going to take the _Alari_ to arrive. It's not the way I wanted to part ways with them but Mr. Alliance looks like he's in a hurry."

Shepard resisted the urge to rub the standing hairs on the back of his neck flat as throughout the short conversation, Hebert's unfocused eyes seemed to be on him. Everything about her posture told him she probably couldn't see straight, yet for some reason he just _knew_ she was fully aware of where everyone, and everything, in the room was. Especially him. How, Shepard couldn't even begin to figure out, but that didn't counter what his gut was screaming at him.

Sighing, Baker nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, alright."

With an awkward nod of her own, Hebert turned away just as Shepard spoke. "If you knew what I was doing, why go through with it?"

"You wanted information, and to be honest, I didn't think you'd actually do that." Hebert mumbled; keeping her back to the trio. "My mistake, letting my guard down, but I'll take it as a learning experience. You see, Sebastian never would have done what you did. At least, not to me. By the time I figured out what you were doing, I was curious to see how far you would take it. You can tell a lot about a guy by how he handles a... seemingly defenseless drunk girl."

"And if things had gone too far?"

"You wouldn't have been the first."

At Hebert's near dead tone, Baker visibly flinched. Shepard didn't notice as he frowned in confusion at her words. For her part, Hebert carefully walked into Med Bay. The plexi glass windows instantly going opaque blocking her from view.


	19. Blue on Black 2

**Blue on Black Story Arc: 4.2**

He knew the best thing to do to not get bee'd, or worse yet attacked by those new krogan wasp monstrosities she picked up on Tuchanka, was to stay out of shit. A fast way for a guy to get his ass handed to him, in the most hardcore and fucked up manner possible, was to stick his nose into Taylor's personal shit. Over the years he'd seen her respond with everything from various bugs, to flat out bitch slapping the offender, and with her artificial arm, that usually mean flying bodies and broken bones. Her response typically dictated by who the offender happen to be, though even if she liked you that didn't mean you were safe; Greg knew that the truth of that. Simple fact was, the girl just didn't allow many people in, and with no exceptions to the 'keep your nose out of Taylor's personal life' rule.

Steve's resolve to stay out of this mess lasted all of three days. Three very uncomfortable days. The division on ship was never clearer than now. Shepard's crew for the most part stayed out of sight until they were an hour out from the Citadel. The same couldn't be true of the Exiled team since there was always a ton of stuff to get done, especially now that they were down two engineers since leaving Hagalaz. That put the new recruits, or conscripts depending on who you talked too, in the middle. As Steve watched Chakwas, Liara, Garrus, Joker, and Shepard walking to the reception desk to get through customs, he knew something needed to be done before it got bad, or worse. The only question he really had, was if he was going to do this the safely, or if he would just jump in and see if he would survive the repercussions.

 _Fuck safe_ , Steve thought to himself. _Besides, I'd been thinking about it for a while..._

He turned to where Taylor was standing; opening his mouth to speak, when she beat him to it. "Such a bad idea."

Steve blinked, thrown by Taylor's muttered comment. "Eh?"

She waved to the departing forms of their quasi shipmates. "Shepard. He's got it stuck in his head that the Council and the Alliance can be convinced to help. It's so stupid. It's like us going to the PRT and asking them for help to deal with the Slaughterhouse Nine."

"Shit, more like they'd give us just enough help to make us rely on them, then do something that would end up killing us _and_ them." Steve snorted humorlessly. "Still, if anyone can convince them, it'd be Shepard, right?"

"Yeah, and that's what I'm worried about." Keeping her eyes on the departing people, Taylor nodded to herself. "Remember when I told you about Nonuel?"

"That sounds familiar actually." Steve answered frowning. "Can't place it though."

"It was a while ago, back after that PRT job were they sent me to negotiate with Exalt."

"That was that cruise liner that got hijacked, right? The one where they asked you to free the hostages since we were the closest to team to do it?" At Taylor's confirming nod, Steve shook his head. "Yeah, I remember that time. Man were they pissed at us, which was weird because you did exactly what they asked you to do and no one got hurt."

"Yeah, but that was the point." At Steve's confused look, Taylor clarified. "They didn't send me expecting me to actually negotiate the exchange, they expected me to do what I usually do with villains who cross the line, kill them. Hopefully with acceptable losses."

Steve nodded. "Right, but what does how screwed up the PRT is jive with whatever Nonuel is?"

"Nonuel was a similar situation Sebastian told me about once." Taylor explained with a sigh. "The Alliance sent him to negotiate with a merc called Darius. Guy had an asteroid that was loaded with eezo and the Alliance wanted mining rights. Preferably without having to worry about what Darius would do to the people they sent to do the mining. Thing about Darius was, he wasn't just some merc, he was a crime lord the Alliance put into power to destabilize that region of the Terminus. Admiral Hackett sent Sebastian to negotiate for those rights, but what they expected was for Sebastian to lose his temper dealing with Darius, and kill him."

"Did he?"

"Of course he did," Taylor answered; rolling her eyes. "It was a foregone conclusion considering Sebastian's idea of 'negotiation' usually involved screaming people and weapons fire."

"True, though he wasn't that bad back on Bet, but I'm not tracking. How's that apply to our shit now?"

Taylor sighed again. "To Shepard, that incident was only a couple of months ago. You would think that it would be fresh in his mind but he's convinced himself that if he presses them enough then everything's going to fall into place. The thing is, Nonuel wasn't even the first time they've done something like that to him, nor was it the last."

"You think they're going to jerk him around?"

"Yeah," Taylor reluctantly agreed. "It's a matter of politics, and even though humanity has cemented its place in the community, the galaxy is still far from united. A lot of things fall under that 'greater good' mindset. The simple fact is, the Alliance is going to put the Alliance first and the last thing they're going to care about is a man preaching the end of all the things, no matter how much they owe him or how right he is. Even with iron clad proof, I just can't see either the Alliance, or the Council, accepting it. Not publicly without the Reapers actually _being_ here. Just the idea of the Reapers is too terrifying for them, not to mention impossible to believe. It would be like trying to convince the PRT and the Protectorate that Scion was going to kill us all with a vid of him pulling a cat out of a tree for a five year old."

"I still say there was something off about that guy." Steve muttered.

"Maybe, but that isn't our problem anymore." Taylor countered with a shake of her head. "We have enough to run with as it is."

"Yeah, but _neither_ is this shit your problem, Taylor."

Taylor blinked, turning to face Steve for the first time. "Of course it is."

"The way I see it," Steve started, "there isn't anything we can do about Shepard. He's going to do his thing, and maybe they jerk him around or maybe they blow him off. Nothing we can do about it now, right?"

At Taylor's silent blink and frown, Steve continued. "We did what we came here for; we got him away from Cerberus. The way I see it, that squares us for what we owe our Shepard. Now is the time for us to do our thing."

"And what are we going to do, Steve, if Shepard comes back here under Alliance mandate? We could easily find ourselves on opposite sides if that happens. As pissed as I am at him, I don't want him to be an enemy. There isn't enough of us who believe in the threat to be divided. Even if we skate and he offers us a spot on _his_ team, there is no way in hell we're going to win against the Collectors using Alliance, or even worse, Citadel methods. We'd never be able to get things done."

"If that stuff happens, then we just do what we do best," Steve stated as if matter was irrelevant. "We do shit ourselves and get the job done. Even if that means without homeskillet. Man's old enough to make his own choices, and his own mistakes. Shit, not like we haven't made our own, before. You know?"

Steve smirked when Taylor lowered her head, obviously switching mental gears. For most people he could almost see them realigning their thoughts to a suggestion, but not with Taylor. She just thought too fast. He'd seen her do this before, and every time it happened he imagined that if her eyes were a computer screen, it would be scrolling in text so fast it'd be impossible for even Atlas to read it. The moment barely lasted a full second when her eyes started refocusing, indicating she'd already realigned every single one of the thousands of plans and contingency plans she'd somehow kept track of in her head with the new situation.

Deciding he wasn't likely to get a better time chance, Steve leaned against the wall, folding his arms. "So, I've been thinking of doing something kinda stupid."

Taylor blinked several times before she raised her eyebrow, looking into his eyes. "Oh? And that's different from a normal Monday, how?"

"Monday's won't kill you right away like a Tuesday will." Steve joked. "Still, the risk of maiming has me a bit nervous."

"Sounds serious," Taylor said as she mimicked Steve's posture on the wall across him. "What is this 'kinda stupid' thing you are thinking of doing?"

"Asking you out."

"Huh?" Taylor dumbly replied.

Pleased at being able to throw her off, Steve repeated himself, "I was thinking of asking you out."

"Like on a date _date_?"

"Yeah. Greg and I found a couple of kick ass hangouts when we were exploring Zakera Ward last time we were here that I thought you'd like. It'd be fun."

At Taylor's narrowed eyes, Steve visibly gulped. "Would that have anything to do with why we're currently docked at Zakera?"

"How bad would it be if I said, maybe?" Steve hedged slightly before smirking. "Truthfully, not as much as it looks like, though I considered it when talking to Citadel Tower. I figured if nothing else, there was this kick ass strip club down on level eight-six I heard a couple of C-Sec guys talking about if you shot me down."

"Steve…"

"Why not?" He cut her off before she could finish automatically turning him down. He'd seen her do the exact same thing to other guys before. "Maybe it's a bad idea, but maybe it's not. Won't know until we try it though, right?"

"Steve, team romances don't work. You know that." Taylor deflected. "How many teams did we see break up over that kind of thing?"

"True," Steve conceded. "Thing is Taylor, I wasn't kidding you back on Illium. I like you. Actually been thinking about this for a while now. I'd like a shot to see if we'd work. One date. Who knows, you might actually have a good time."

Instead of instantly shooting him down as he expected, she eyed him appraisingly, as if she was considering it. "You're actually serious."

Steve nodded, keeping his arms folded and resisting the urge to do something with his hands. "Yeah. We'd been friends for a few years now, Taylor. We're both Bet survivors, lived the cape life. There isn't much we don't know about each other, no secrets, you know? We've been there for each a lot. More than we've been there for the others, but that has more to do with the kind of shit we've thrown ourselves into than anything else since we're both thrill junkies. Paige has been harping on me how friendships are the best foundations for a serious relationship. Mutual respect and all that shit, you know how she is. Like I said, been thinking about it for a while, figured I won't know what's up until I asked and we tried it."

"Why now?" Taylor asked.

"Well, no one's trying to kill us at the moment. Figured that won't be true for much longer," Steve smirkingly replied. "Besides, we're here on the Citadel, in a week we could be anywhere. Probably on some fucked up planet stomping some poor bastard into the muck. Figured you'd have more fun here, than somewhere like Hagalaz. More fun stuff to do, less blood. Sharee tells me that's sort of important for a real date. Not sure if I believe her, but hell, I'll try anything once."

Steve kept himself from squirming under Taylor's penetrating gaze, just, as he waited silently. After almost a full minute between them, he got his answer.

Taylor eyes softened as she smiled softly. "Alright."

"Really?" He wanted to kick himself for letting that slip, even if he had half convinced himself she was going to turn him down. "I mean, awesome. So, ah, we should go do that then."

Steve fought to keep from wincing as his less than smooth suggestion, though it did bring Taylor's smile more to life. "Yeah, I guess we should."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

"Citadel Security certainly has come a long way since my days here." Garrus observed as he intently eyed the new physical additions to the check in procedure.

"Looks like it, though it isn't going to do anything to stop the Reapers when they get here." Shepard pointed out. "The Reapers are not going to stand in line waiting to get admitted, like we've had to."

Garrus nodded. "True, but the professional in me appreciates the fact C-Sec's funding has obviously increased. That was always an issue when I was on the force. There never seemed to be enough of anything, except red tape. There was always more than enough of that to scuttle a dreadnought, or keep us from doing our jobs."

Shepard didn't reply as they're turn finally came. Unfortunately, unlike the people who preceded them, when he stepped through the scanner, it blared.

Already frustrated with the wait, he sighed impatiently when the C-Sec guard held up his hand stopping his progress. He stood still to not delay the frowning turian as he ran his omni tool over him.

"Ah, sorry, for this, but according to our equipment, you're... dead."

"Understandable. I was listed as missing in action a couple of years ago," Shepard explained. He figured this would come up at some point, though he hoped it would have happened after he met with Anderson. "Truth is I was only mostly dead, but try finding that option on government paperwork."

"Pretty sure salarians have that option in theirs. Seems like they think of everything, no matter how improbable." The grey scaled turian muttered before shaking his head. "However, I'm sorry sir. I'm afraid you're going to need to step into our offices and get this sorted out before we can allow you into Zakera Ward."

"How long is this going to take?" Shepard asked, "I have a meeting with the Council, over this exact misunderstanding actually."

The guard shrugged uncaringly. "You would be surprised how many people spend a year or so 'dead' to get out of paying their taxes. Step through the door and turn left, please. Agent Lopez will assist you in acquiring the appropriate forms."

"Paperwork?" Shepard asked, not without a little trepidation.

"Hardcopy that you will need when you go to Stations Security Administration to reactivate your ID's. After you do that, you will need to go to Customs and Immigrations to gain access to the Citadel itself, and then a stop by the treasury to clean up any 'forgotten' taxation issues. Once you have completed those objectives, you will be free to enjoy the Citadel."

Shepard blinked, stunned. "You have to be kidding me."

"Not in the least." Returned the bored guard. "Now, please proceed. You are holding up the line."

Reeling, Shepard followed the instructions and soon found himself seated at an unused table with his friends, and a very large stack of datapads. He picked up the first one and immediately felt his eyes cross.

"This is going to take weeks," He groused.

Despite Shepard's glare, Joker chuckled to himself, though Shepard was thankful to see both Garrus and Chakwas pick up a datapad each and start helping him go through them.

"I'm sorry, Shepard, I should have thought of this before we arrived here." Liara apologized, looking up from the data pad she took from the stack.

"Oh well." Shepard sighed fatally. "I suppose there's nothing I can do about it except get through it. With all of us here, how bad could it really be?"

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Paige was out of her mind. Not that I was really surprised. Paige seemed to live under the assumption I was terminally incapable of properly preparing myself for anything that didn't involve a combat drop or beating someone up. Despite several of my attempts to get the master cape to relent, that this whole thing wasn't a big deal, it still took two hours before she deemed me 'ready' for my date with Steve.

My date with Steve. So weird, I thought to myself while adjusting the glove to hide my right arm. It wasn't that I was opposed to the idea; Steve wasn't a bad guy. I just never thought of about it before.

Sort of had to now though.

"Here we go." Paige stated behind me. I turned from the vid mirror she sat me in front of to the cape seeing her rising from her personal foot locker, a pair of really nice teardrop earrings in her hand.

"I have my own earrings, Paige." I pointed out.

"Yeah, and most of them are gang related." Paige argued as she fastened the earrings to me. "While our old gangs are not around for people to make the connection, and your stuff is nice, most of your jewelry is still bug related. These are nice, but forgettable enough to not draw the wrong kind of attention to you. Besides, Steve likes blue and these sparkle. Bright colors and sparkles are in on the Citadel right now."

"Why am I not surprised you are up to date on the fashions here." I mumbled.

"Not all of us get our jollies from this week's installment of 'Guns and Bullets'." Paige scoffed. "Someone on the team has to keep up with the important stuff."

"You're making a bigger deal of this than it really is, Paige." I uselessly tried arguing again. "This thing with Steve, it's not serious. I don't even really know how I feel about it yet."

Finished, Paige nodded to herself satisfied. "Maybe, but you felt enough to say yes to him so you might as well make the right effort."

"There are a lot of reasons why this whole thing is a bad idea."

"And just as many why this could be a good thing." Paige argued as she sat next to me. "Personally, I think it's about time you guys stopped dancing around each other. It's been clear as glass that he was interested for a while, and Steve's a really good guy. More importantly, you trust Steve. Unlike some of the other guys you've dated, you don't have to worry about what his angle is or if he's going to try something."

I tried to shake off the chill that raced down my spine, failing badly. So not the thoughts to have right now. I looked beside me when I felt Paige's hand on my shoulder as I pulled myself together. "Hey, I didn't mean…"

I smiled weakly, "It's alright."

Before the moment could get anymore awkward, the door to our shared room opened letting in two people. Through the vid mirror I watched as Sharee walked in with a tall red head. Whatever they were talking about had Sharee nodding to what the other girl was saying before her eyes met mine and she smiled.

"You look nice, Taylor." Sharee greeted. "Steve's ready too. Been in the mess getting ribbed by Greg for asking you out for a while now."

"Paige." I explained with a roll of my eyes. Sharee nodded with a smirk knowing exactly what I meant.

"I stand by the results. Taylor looks hot, so it was worth it." Paige huffed at our teasing.

I took one last look into the vid mirror. While I wasn't exactly happy with how low cut my jeans were for a first date kind of thing, I had to admit they did look good on me. I'd bought them some time ago but more as an indulgence than with any expectation I would actually wear them in public. I didn't have the assets the other girls had to flaunt, being light in the bust and backside, but I liked the way these jeans showed off my long legs.

Even if they showed off a bit more of my hips than was acceptable in most places we frequented back on Earth. Considering what some asari wore, my jeans were rather tame, so I felt pretty good about not getting any negative attention for it.

The rest of my ensemble was, as was always the case, complicated by my arm. I'd noticed the looks I got on the Citadel the last time we were here so I decided to make an effort to hide it. I guess even here, mechanical prosthetics were not very common, though my bug theme might have been the real eye catcher. Still, I'd rather not have to deal with that kind of attention today if it was avoidable. Not if I wanted to actually enjoy, whatever this was. So like in times past when I had to hide it, a flesh tone glove over my arm and an airy long sleeve over shirt buttoned up mid-way. Paige however vetoed my undershirt stating, 'You have fantastic abs, show them off!' I couldn't argue that I liked the overall look even if I thought it was a bit much for a first date, much less one with Steve. Especially since I wasn't even sure if I liked him like that.

Despite my misgivings, I turned to Paige, giving the pouting cape a smile of appreciation. "Thanks."

"Always." Paige returned. "Now for the last thing."

I raised my eyebrow, confused. "What?"

Paige pointed to corner of the room. "Loose the bugs."

My confused look turned to a frown. "I'm not carrying that many..."

Instead of replying, Paige raised her own eyebrow challengingly while Sharee out right laughed. Knowing I wasn't going to win with both of them ganging up on me I sighed. The only non-cape in the room squeaked in surprise as several dozen spiders, bees, and wasps mixed with a few others ran or flew from under my shirt, my jeans, and hair to the ISB in the corner.

"All of them." Paige countered before the last one was stowed.

"Oh, come on!"

Paige held firm. "Taylor, you can't go through the scanners with them anyways."

"No, but I can easily get around that. I did it last time," I tried countering.

"You're going on a date, Taylor, and this is the Citadel," Paige stated folding her arms unimpressed with my argument. "You're supposed to be going to have fun. If you take your bugs with you, you're not going to do that, you're going to be looking for trouble, and then finding some _instead_ of relaxing."

"I hate you," I grumbled even as I relented. Our room exploded in a buzz of wings as the literal hive I kept hidden in my thick hair, and from within my clothes, flew to the corner. I sulked ignoring the dumbfounded look on Sharee's companion's face as my bugs were stored. These were mostly just filler bugs but apparently Paige decided I wasn't even allowed non-lethal insects.

Satisfied only after she shuffled my hair to make sure I wasn't trying to hide any, Paige smiled. "Good, now you're ready."

"Yeah, now that you've stripped me naked, sure." I half groused as I turned to Sharee. "While I'm spending the day blind and uncomfortable, what are you guys going to do?"

"Stop being so dramatic," Paige huffed good-naturedly.

Sharee smiled at the byplay. "I'm taking Alex to the park. Kelly was telling me about one only a few minutes away by air car. After he tires himself out, we're going shopping in Shinokiba. Gardner was complaining about the kinds of provisions Cerberus stocked the Normandy with and we're going to need more supplies to feed the crew. Especially if we end up keeping even half those guys down in the cargo bay. I, personally, wouldn't mind a chance to have someone else do the cooking once in a while."

"Well, you know the guys idea of cooking, and the rest of us are not much better. I bet Alex will like going to the park. It's been awhile since he's gotten out like that." I said, returning Sharee's smile as I turned to aforementioned girl. "Settling in alright, Kelly?"

"Yes Captain," the redhead replied. "Though I will admit this was not what I imagined serving on the Normandy would be like."

"I bet it's a lot different than how your former employer prefers to run things." I nodded. "Any regrets? About signing on with us, instead of returning to Cerberus?"

"No Ma'am." Kelly answered easily. "While I was honored to be handpicked by the Illusive Man to serve on the Normandy, the fact is I was picked and joined for this mission first and foremost. While the leadership might have changed, we are facing a common enemy. I don't really care who is in command, just as long as we are doing something to fight them."

"It's looking like things are going to kick off soon." I noted. "Atlas is still running the numbers and searching for likely hot spots and Glyph is looking for the people we're interested in recruiting for our ground team and other positions. This might be the last bit of downtime we see for a while. Our last chance to stock up before things get hectic."

"That was what Sharee was telling me, which was why I'd thought I would tag along with them. There were a few things I thought we might need to acquire before leaving Citadel space and getting out and enjoying the lighter side of life is always nice when you can get away with it."

I smiled in agreement as I left the room with Paige next to me. Despite her bubbly personality, I wasn't fooled. Wouldn't have been even without Sebastian's memories of the woman or my bugs to read her body posture for tells. I'd known girls like her before. Valley Girls, a bit airy, definitely liked to enjoy all that life has to offer, but underneath that personality was hidden an insanely sharp mind always churning.

Once through the door of the old XO's office we took for our own, I turned to Paige. "Keep an eye on her."

"Kelly?"

"Yeah."

"She seems genuine. Dinah agreed."

"Dinah's been wrong before." I pointed out as my eyes fell on the teen herself. She was sitting next to Steve at the kitchen island, obviously grilling him judging by the look in her face. "Her power isn't infallible and you know how I feel about any of us relying on it too much. Did you know Kelly has a doctorate in human psychology, as well as half dozen masters in relevant xeno branches?"

Paige blinked. "No kidding? She's not much older than I am."

"She's scary smart, but that was a given. The Illusive Man has never hand pick morons for his projects." I nodded, walking over to the kitchen island in the mess to rescue Steve from whatever Dinah was doing to him. "It's not that I don't trust her, per se..."

"You just don't trust most people in general, yeah, I know."

Ignoring the very apt comment I tapped Steve on the shoulder. "Hey."

"Hey," Steve greeted looking a bit relieved at the interruption. "Whoa. Man, way to make a guy feel like a scrub. Damn."

I rolled my eyes but actually felt a bit flattered. It wasn't like Steve didn't make an effort himself. For a change, there were no rips or faded patches in his own jeans or shirt and both were nice looking showing off his physique. That was offset a bit by a duster I'd rarely seen him wear and always when he was looking to make an impression. Of course, he wouldn't have been Steve if he wasn't wearing his favorite beanie. He also shaved, which was unusual for him. He liked the scruffy look.

"Paige." I explained again, getting a knowing nod and a smirk. "She's finally deemed me ready to go."

"Awesome sauce, I'm good too." Steve said as he rose from the stool he was using.

We escaped the boisterous awkwardness of the mess with a few goodbyes, and one pointed glare at Steve from Dinah, to land in a silent awkwardness between the two of us. It followed us through the ship, airlock, and most of the way to the check in desk. Thankfully, the line wasn't too bad at the moment.

"So," Steve lead in, breaking the silence. "Did you get grilled like I did?"

I snorted. "Probably not, though Dinah talked to me too. I think she's a bit weirded out."

"Yeah, Greg was too. Man, what is up with that anyways?"

I had an idea, but didn't voice it. Instead I shrugged as our turn in line came. A quick data burst from our omni tools had us moving into the scanners. I wasn't surprised when it blared and held still while the guard ran his omni tool over me, running a second scan over my arm.

After reading the results, the turian nodded at the readout. "You have a prosthetic; don't see many of those anymore. Strange tech."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." I said. "Custom, a friend of mine built it for me when I lost my arm a couple of years ago."

"You should have registered it the last time you were here," the guard grumbled. "The scanners are flagging it as weapons grade tech."

 _They're not wrong,_ I thought keeping my expression bland as possible as I nodded apologetically. "Sorry, we were sort of busy the last time we docked here and unfamiliar with the procedures. Not to mention I was sort of bogged down in Citadel docking procedures for the first time."

"I'll make a note that Bahalk District should have informed you during your last time in port. Someone obviously isn't paying attention to regulations over there. Inside, turn to the right and ask for Captain Bailey. Registration will require his authorization before we can allow admittance to the Citadel."

"Okay."

Done with us, the guard turned his sharp eyes to the next in line while we went where he directed us. Steve waited until we were out of earshot before turning to me. "I know that look; you remember something about this Bailey guy?"

"Kind of," I replied. "Sebastian knew him though it's weird to hear him addressed as Captain. The memory has him as a Commander and working in the human Embassy Offices. Assuming it's the same guy."

"That sounds like a really assbackward promotion," Steve commented. "Isn't Commander lower on the ranking system or am I missing something? Cuz, that sounds like a promotion, except for the part where the guy gets demoted."

"Yeah, that was what I was thinking too," I answered. "Then again I might be remembering two different people who just happen to have the same last name."

"I guess we'll see in a minute then. Guy's around here somewhere, right?"

As soon as we walked into the room I instantly spotted Bailey talking to one of his subordinates, some brown haired human woman who looked really uncomfortable with whatever he was saying to her. It was the same Bailey from Sebastian's memory except that he had short, almost shorn, white hair. For some reason, I expected it to be brown. Maybe like his rank, he changed it later? That aside, Bailey had a hard worn; gravely look to him that screamed 'career cop'. That much, at least, hadn't changed.

After a few quick nods from her, Bailey shook his head and made his way to us. Steve and I waited for him to settle himself at the terminal and log in.

"Ah, I see the problem now. I have no idea why Tarquin just didn't add this to your ID file instead of sending you to me. Just because mechanical prosthetics are obsolete by turian standards doesn't mean other races don't use them. Colony raised, Ms. Hebert?"

I nodded, "Yeah."

That was part of my background now thanks to Liara. Despite the fact my biometrics were tagged for both my ID's, Gunn couldn't be used for Citadel mainstream. Only for access to Alliance docks. I still wasn't sure how all that worked, just had to trust that Liara knew what she was doing. So far, she hadn't steered us wrong.

Bailey shook his head. "And of course it's a colony that doesn't have access to decent medical technology, so the prosthetic. Fine work for colony craft though."

"My friend does good work." I replied. "He's a bit of an engineering prodigy. This one is a lot better than the old one, but he has better access to materials than he did back then. Sorry for the trouble."

Bailey waved off my apology. "No trouble, our scanners are top of the line, able to sample your DNA from skin flakes. Hell, if you had unregistered gene mods, we'd know. While a complicated construct, it's clear your arm is just a prosthetic. Next time you see your friend, tell him his work is impressive. Your arm is incredibly well made, almost like a mechanical duplicate of what a real arm is like. Strange choice in metals though, which is why I think the scanners flagged it as a weapon. You don't usually see these materials used outside high heat weaponry."

"He got tired of me breaking them," I smirked as I explained. "I'm a bit hard on my tech and live a rather active lifestyle."

"I would say so," Bailey stated as he finished typing on the terminal. "And done. Now you shouldn't have any more problems. Anything else I can help you with, or can I get back to work?"

I shook my head, feeling Paige's earrings swing at the movement, when I heard a recognizable laugh from behind me. I turned automatically and groaned when I saw who it belonged to. Joker sat hunched in a chair, sitting at a table. He wasn't alone either. Chakwas, Liara, Garrus, and, of course, Shepard were like wise sitting at the same table. A couple of stacks of datapads between them. Joker's laugh must have had something to do with the datapad he tossed onto the table before he grabbed a different one.

I nudged Steve, pointing my chin over to the group when he looked at me. "Oh man, what did he do to get arrested this fast? How bad do you think his meeting with the Council went?"

"No idea, but I can't see it going this badly. If it had, I doubt Garrus would be smirking like that." I couldn't help but chuckle at Steve's comment as I shook my head again. "Looks like he's going through docking procedures, but that can't be it. Atlas and I did that earlier."

"You know him?"

I turned back to Bailey, nodding. "Yeah. Surprised you don't recognize him though. I would have thought everyone on the Citadel would have recognized Commander Shepard walking around."

Instead of replying, Bailey typed at his terminal. "Well, so it is. I'll be damned. Ah, Tarquin again."

"What did Shepard do?" I asked.

"Nothing, except be alive when our systems have him listed as killed in action. Tarquin apparently either didn't believe the scanner, or decided that Commander Shepard was trying to avoid paying his taxes."

"No shit?" Steve laughed. "Man got pegged for something like that?"

"You would be amazed at how often people do it. Spending a few years dead is a popular tax dodge." Bailey answered seriously.

"Of all the things to get pinched for." Still laughing, Steve turned to me. "Man, I thought the IRS was someone not to fuck with back when Greg and I were working solo in B."

I couldn't help but snort over Shepard's situation even as I rubbed my eyes. "We've been docked for hours, has he been here the whole time?"

Bailey nodded. "Looks that way, which is stupid. There's no fooling the scanners, he's him."

"So he hasn't even managed to get out onto station? Man, his bro Anderson is going to freak when Shepard doesn't make his appointment to meet with the Council." Steve pointed out, still obviously amused.

"I don't suppose there's anything you can do to help him?" I asked Bailey tiredly.

"Sure, take me about two seconds. I'm sure the Council's curious what their dead Spectre is doing back. Especially considering the hype."

"Yeah, that was the main reason for us being here actually."

"Alright, done," Bailey stated as he finished working the terminal. "I'll just go let him know so he can get on with his day and I can get back to dealing with the real issues on this station."

I smiled thankfully, extending my hand to shake Baileys. "Thanks."

"No problem Ms. Hebert. Enjoy your stay in Zakera Ward," Bailey said before shaking my hand and walking over to where Shepard was sitting, holding his head while Joker, and now apparently Garrus, were laughing at him.

I shook my head and turned my attention to Steve. "So, what did you have in mind? Keeping in mind that if you mention that strip club you and Greg found, I'm going to brain you."

"Damn." Steve playfully cursed before pointing to the window. Outside I could see a several rental air cars parked and waiting. "Since that's out, how about something to eat? Noticed a few places that looked good when I was here last."

"Sure, food sounds good." I agreed, leading the way to a public terminal to check the registry for restaurants that were in the ward. "What did you have in mind?"

"I think I saw a pizza place but it was run by an asari so no clue really what kind of toppings and stuff they'd have. Other than that there were a couple of places that looked interesting but off the top of my head I'm not really sure what kind of food they serve. Really though, I'm up for anything. Just nothing too weird, but, you know, whatever."

"Okay, how about we see what they have available?"

"Sure."

"Greetings, Hebert. It has been eleven days since the Citadel has last welcomed you," Greeted the holographic asari VI that appeared before us. "This is the Zakera Ward Transit Hub. Shuttles as well as other transit needs can be met here. I am Avina. How can I assist you today?"

"We're looking for someplace decent to buy lunch in Zakera." I explained to the pop up. "Recommendations? Only restrictions would be human dietary needs."

"There are currently forty-six establishments that meet that criteria. Would you like me to list them, or would you prefer to narrow your search?"

"Man that sure beats a phone book," Steve chuckled.

I smiled as I suggested, "Hamburger Roulette?"

Steve laughed, "Sure, though I hope it works out better than the last time we did it."

"No kidding. I still can't believe there really was a restaurant that sold both tacos and chinese." I dryly remarked as I turned back to Avina. "Although I admit the egg rolls were fantastic. Pick one at random please. Apparently, we're both feeling adventurous today."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Shepard resisted the urge to grind his teeth as he waited. So far this entire day had not gone anywhere near as he had expected it too. He thought his problems were solved after Captain Bailey saved him from his friends ribbing, not to mention the endless stack of datapads they'd spent hours trying to go through. However that assumption quickly soured after he finally arrived at Anderson's office on the Presidium.

It was nice, bigger than the old embassy office Udina used to have. Which made sense after he thought about it due to humanities increase in standing now. Anderson looked good, not too different than he remembered him and best of all; he wasn't late for his meeting with the Council. Anderson even greeted him warmer than the last time they talked. The point where things changed was when the meeting started. The Council didn't even oblige him with a physical meeting, instead they flatlined through the holographic interface.

If that had been the only thing, Shepard was sure his frustration wouldn't have been so bad, but that was just the start. It became crystal clear from the second the Councilors laid eyes on him, they were not happy to do so. He expected some resistance, the fact he didn't really have a good history with them being just one reason, but the open animosity he didn't expect. It was as if his mere existence upset them for some reason.

They definitely spent enough time going over the data that explained how he was here in the first place. Sparatus was particularly nitpicky over the details. Shepard had expected Valern to be that way, but the Salarian Councilor was simply intrigued by the data only asking Chakwas and Liara a few questions and remaining silent the rest of the time. Unsurprisingly, Tevos simply acted the mediator as the confrontation between Sparatus and Shepard heated.

After what seemed like an eternity, they managed to settle that Shepard was physically Shepard. Reluctantly agreed to settle, provisional to his agreement to allow their own physicians to give him a checkup later as well as a full psych workup. While he could understand their reluctance, it still grated on him but he'd go through with it if it finally put an end to the question of his existence.

Issue, sort of/finally, resolved, topics moved to why he came here in the first place, which brought him to where he was now. Standing silently fighting to grind his teeth as each of them read through the data Tali sent Liara. His friends sitting or standing some distance away looking far more frustrated with events than he was letting himself show. Then again, they weren't in the spotlight the same way he was and could afford to let their feelings show.

Councilor Tevos's holographic image looked up from the datapad in her hand, turning to Councilor Valern's image. Seeing him nod, she turned to Anderson before finally looking at Sparatus. The surly turian didn't even bother looking up, just nodded.

"Are we ready to discuss the information?" Tevos asked.

"I don't see what there is to discuss," Sparatus immediately stated. "This is clearly a human issue, and one that has no bearing on Citadel matters."

"Excuse me?" Shepard blurted. "Those are entire colonies being abducted!"

"Colonies in the Terminus," Valern stated. "Humanity was warned when it ventured into the Traverse of such risks to people and property. However, unlike the Traverse, we cannot become involved in any issue within the Terminus Systems, Shepard. It is outside our jurisdiction. Even if you have been, incapacitated, for the last two years, our policy in this regard has not changed. We cannot become involved in events in those territories without inviting conflict from the various warlords of those systems."

"Sadly, Councilor Valern is correct." Tevos agreed though Shepard noted she didn't look that upset over the verdict. "That has been the basis of our non-aggression pact with them for hundreds of years. We cannot allow ourselves to violate that agreement, no matter the reason."

Taking a deep breath to keep himself calm, Shepard argued, "Councilors, this isn't a matter of a few hundred people going missing. Hundreds of _thousands_ of people are being abducted! We have a responsibility to them to get them back, or at the very least, stop the perpetrators from continuing whatever grim work they are doing with those poor people."

"If Humanity cannot maintain the integrity of a few its colonies without our aid, then it begs the question to their fitness to hold residence on this Council." Sparatus returned wryly. At Tevos's frown, the surly turian looked aside so he wasn't looking at anyone specific. "However, since the colonies themselves are within the Terminus, that can be excused. Nonetheless, Humanity does have a seat on this council and is as bound to the rules of our society the same as the rest of us."

Still slightly frowning at the turian councilor, Tevos nodded reluctantly. "Again, unfortunate, but also true."

Shepard shook his head disbelievingly. "So you won't even allow the Alliance to do something?"

"Our course is clear, Shepard. To do otherwise could be seen by the Terminus Systems as an act of war." Tevos answered. "While I disagree with Councilor Sparatus's delivery, that does not change the fact that Humanity's elevation does come with additional responsibilities. Responsibilities to not just this council, but to those we are tasked to represent. Unfortunately for the current situation the fact remains our hands are tied."

"Our hands are tied," Shepard repeated incredulously. "These Collectors are out there abducting people and you're telling me our hands are tied?"

"Allegedly abducting people," Valern corrected emotionlessly. "While the presented evidence is provocative, the source is questionable. According to Ms. Zorah's own report, this Veetor was the only one to witness the attack, and he did so from within a sealed storage locker. He was also suffering from a malfunctioning air filter at the time of the attack. We possess insufficient information on current quarian physiology to fully appreciate how this would have affected his mental state. A mental state already traumatized by the event in question. As it is, this evidence is not very convincing. I, for one, have more questions than this report answers."

"Fine then," Shepard ground the words though his teeth. "What about unofficially?"

Four pairs of eyes blinked at him in surprise. Not hearing a rebuttal, Shepard pressed. "I'm fully aware of the Council's 'official' stance on the Reapers. I'm also _very_ aware of the _other_ reasons why official interest into the Terminus is off the table."

Each councilor wore a very well-practiced poker face that did absolutely nothing for hiding their apprehension from him. All three of them understood exactly what he was implying, though Shepard had no intention of letting it go at that. "Keeping in mind I know _exactly_ how the galaxy works, I also understand each of your governments have… let's call them _enterprises_ in the Terminus Systems. Any single one of these if they were to become known could ruin more than a handful of government officials. So don't give me the party line about how avoiding war with the Terminus is the reason why we're not allowed in there. Need I remind any of you I stood ground zero, _twice_ , against those very same Warlords and _won?"_

None before him confirmed his innuendo, but Shepard didn't expect them to. Instead, he continued pressing, "So let's get back on topic. That being you can't deny that this situation needs to be addressed. It doesn't matter if you can publicly acknowledge involvement; we need to do something about this. It's obvious that the Collectors are working with the Reapers, like the geth did before! Why else would they be taking entire populations? Simple fact, even the most daring slaver doesn't have that the capability for this scale of abductions, not to mention the missing people haven't turned up for sale…"

"Ah yes, 'Reapers'." Sparatus lazily drawled as if he was just waiting for Shepard to mention them. The bastard even used air quotes when he said Reapers. "We've already dismissed that claim."

"So I've noted from the extranet." Shepard growled at the turian. "Publicly, anyway."

"Period," Valern corrected. "There was insufficient evidence to confirm your claims, Shepard."

"Then how do you explain Sovereign? I know for a fact that before I died we had teams of techs analyzing what was left of his carcass. Surely they would have found _something_ in the last two years."

Tevos explained patiently. "Sovereign was deemed an advanced geth construct. There was nothing gained from various investigations to prove your claims that it was anything else. Much less that he was one of many sentient starships existing in Dark Space to harvest all life in the galaxy."

"That is enough!" Anderson angrily interrupted. "I'm a member of this Council as well, and I will not allow this whitewash to continue. Councilor Tevos, you know my stance on this issue."

"I will note that the issue itself is currently tabled, pending the addition of further evidence." Tevos smoothly added.

Sparatus scoffed. "I think we're done here."

Tevos turned to Valern, who nodded before returning her eyes to Shepard. "Yes, it is clear we are. Unfortunately, this Council finds insufficient cause to commit resources to your request to aid human colonies within the Terminus Systems."

The asari councilor turned her gaze to Anderson next. "While pleased to see you, Shepard, we would like to remind Councilor Anderson, that your Specter Status was rescinded two years ago, and no matter how miraculous your return, you are currently a civilian. Should the Alliance reactivate you within their organization, you will be expected to follow the same rules and regulations that every member of said organization is expected to. The same as every member of each of our homeworld's military forces."

As Tevos's holographic hand moved to the side, presumably to kill the flatline, Valern looked up from his datapad. Shepard narrowed his eyes knowing the salarian was trying to tell him something, but not understanding what it was as Tevos continued, "This meeting is adjourned."

The images of the council vanished. The message it sent was clear. They didn't believe, nor were they even slightly inclined to, though Valern's last look was promising, though for the life of him, Shepard couldn't figure out how to leverage it, much less understand what was being implied.

Beside him, Anderson sighed. "That could have gone worse."

"I don't see how." Shepard said stunned at the outcome.

"There were rumors they intended to incarcerate you for being an illegal clone," Anderson returned as the two of them walked the short distance to where the others were.

"You're kidding."

"Not in the least. Sparatus's idea, unsurprisingly. I had to move fast and appeal to Valern when I heard about it. Good news is you managed to convince him, so things worked out."

Liara shook her head once they reached the table. "I can't believe they actually stonewalled us like this. I had hoped Tali's data would have at least allowed some leeway."

"I told you so," Joker scoffed. "Now you see what I was telling you before. These guys have their heads buried so far in the sand I'm surprised anyone even knows what their faces look like."

"True enough," Anderson sadly said. "I've tried but the mere mention of Reapers has them entrenching further. Hackett's even tried using the Corsairs with a few of our more dedicated N7s to dig something up, but every time we bring up anything even remotely suggesting that the Reapers are real, we've received similar denials. We have one other option, but we're still a really long way from being able to do anything with it."

"Another option?" Shepard asked.

"A black project of Hackett's that he's named Task Force Aurora. Very hush hush; even I don't know anything about it aside from its existence. It was something he put together last year to find proof of the Reaper threat, but so far it hasn't bore fruit. I'll talk to Hackett and see if we can't swing more funding that way."

Shepard nodded resignedly. At least the Alliance was trying to do something.

"It's good to know that some things never change." Garrus drawled. His comment was reward with several sour chuckles before Garrus broke the strained silence that followed. "You know, killing these guys ourselves is appealing and we do know someone willing to help."

Joker smiled. "Pretty sure Taylor could still use a pilot. Not to mention I doubt she's managed to get replacements for the meat grinder roster. At least, I doubt she would have from here. Now if this was Omega…"

Shepard turned to Liara, seeing her smirk as she nodded in agreement before turning to Chakwas. "You would be amazed at how much unused leave I've accumulated over the years. Someone needs to patch you up after you've done something stupid and gotten hurt. Besides, I'd never trust Jeff to take his medicine without supervision."

Joker rolled his eyes at her comment. "Thanks Mom."

Chuckling at the by play, Shepard nodded to everyone before turning to Anderson. "The Council's made it pretty clear where the Alliance is to stand."

"Yes. Officially, you won't be able to expect any help from us," the older man agreed before he offered a small smile. "Unofficially, I'll talk to Hackett and see what we can do. Even if it's only a matter of 'losing' a few supplies, here and there. They will be watching us, but Hackett's a savvy old dog. Let me know what you might need, and we'll see what we can do."

"Thanks Anderson," Shepard said gratefully before he sighed. "Now I just need to find a way to apologize to Hebert and see if she's still willing to work with us. She seemed pretty pissed at me the last few days."

"Yeah, good luck with that. Better you than me." Joker snarked. "Think I'd rather go a round with the ground team than be on her bad side. That woman scares the shit out of me when she's moody, which is really weird because she's not the kind of person you'd think could be scary. Like a really evil Librarian or school teacher. Just the kind that knows about a hundred ways to kill you unpleasantly with a spoon. And bugs. Don't get me started on the bug thing, seriously. That is a completely different level of 'what the shit'."

"Beats the idea of working for Cerberus." Shepard stated, not disagreeing with the shuddering pilot. He'd noticed it himself the last few days. While he wasn't scared of Hebert, he wouldn't deny there was something about her that made one want to leave the room when she was in ill temper. "They're the only other group willing to actually do anything about this mess and after everything we'd seen from them before we lost the Normandy, I couldn't in good conscious work for them. Even on something like this. Not unless it was absolutely the last recourse, and even then I'd probably end up regretting it."

"True enough." Anderson agreed. "Things would have been a lot worse if that had been the case when you arrived. At least being independent, while still operating unofficially, you won't find yourself closed off from alternate resources the way working with Cerberus would have. Just be doubly careful what you do in Citadel space, just in case."

"An impossible, probably suicidal, mission against an incalculable foe that only we believe in? Flying blind into the unknown without any support or anyone to rely on except for our own skills and abilities? Alone, running and gunning outside the law without oversight, rules or regulations?" Garrus hummed to himself, smirking as only he could. "Sounds like old times to me."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

I put the medkit on the tabletop before gingerly sitting down and opening it. Next to me, Steve smiled gratefully before wincing at the pain from his split lip. Once I had opened the small tin of medigel, he removed the bloody cloth he was holding to his lip to staunch the flow of blood.

"I still can't believe you two," Greg exasperatedly repeated for the hundredth time since he picked us up from C-Sec. "You guys can't go out in public without us _once_ without getting into shit."

I paused long enough to squint through my black eye at the tinker before dabbing Steve's lip, repeating myself, _again_. "We didn't start that fight, Greg."

"Finished it though," Steve grunted smugly as I smeared the gel on him. It wasn't that bad, but there was no telling where that vorcha's claws had been before he backhanded Steve. "Seriously man, it wasn't our fault this time. How were we supposed to know that district had a problem with humans?"

Greg threw his hands up. "If it wasn't your fault, why did I need to bribe you out of jail?"

"Because the cop that arrested us didn't like humans any better than those assholes did. Thankfully the guy running the C-Sec district here is awesome and knows the score," Steve mumbled. "Bailey's awesome. Also, I love medigel. Medigel's awesome."

"Yes it is," I agreed, adding my own chuckle to the conversation. " _And,_ you still owe me two million credits, Greg. Minus the five thousand you paid Bailey to get the charges dropped. At least Bailey's rates are reasonable. Some cops are just greedy about this stuff. Besides, you weren't doing anything anyways. You stayed on the ship."

"Man, so not the point, you guys suck," The tinker complained as he walked away, obviously giving up on the conversation. Or possibly giving up on us. As I started smearing some of gel on the cut over Steve's eye, I figured it could have gone either way.

Left alone, aside from a couple of techs we recruited from our raids last week eyeing us as if they doubted our sanity, Steve looked at me the best he could while I was working on him. "So, was I right or what? Fun yeah?"

I snorted, "Not exactly what I had in mind earlier when we started off."

"Tell me the look on that batarian's face wasn't worth it when you decked him." Steve slyly asked. "I mean, it was like we were in an old movie or something. Just sitting there, bullshitting and guy walks up talking about how his 'friend' doesn't like humans before going off about how he didn't like humans either. Tell me it wasn't fun to punch his lights out. Man, the look on that other guy's face when you laid out his buddy made _me_ laugh. Even _Bailey_ laughed when we told him about it in lock up. We'd had been fine if those other guys hadn't have joined in."

Despite myself, I chuckled as I conceded to his points. "I suppose it was kind of funny."

"We should tell someone that they need to update that Avina chick. She picked a crappy spot for a couple of humans to grab lunch."

"The curry was actually really good though," I argued as I finished with Steve. "She wasn't wrong about the food but that's what we get for playing Hamburger Roulette."

"Yeah, I guess. Next time we'll have to do our own research."

I stilled at his suggestion suddenly feeling a sinking in my stomach. "Steve…"

Instead of looking upset, the thinker nodded as he took the tin of medigel from me. "You either eh?"

I smiled sadly. "I tired."

"Yeah, I know," Steve agreed as he tilted my head so he could dab my eye with the blessed healing paste. The pain in my eye instantly faded as he worked. "It was like every other time we hung out. Had a blast but no real spark or whatever."

"Yeah, I guess we just know each other too well for something like that. Then again, I'm not exactly an expert on these things. Usually when I try doing something like this, bad things happen."

"Well, at least we know it wouldn't work, you know?" Steve deflected, moving the topic back to more comfortable ground. Which I appreciated. He knew more about some of those things than the others did. "Better off as friends. But just so you know, I would have been completely cool with being your rebound guy."

I couldn't tell if he was joking or not as he finished with my eye and moved to the cut that bisected the scar I still carried from Aryes. "Even if things had been different, you're better that, Steve."

"Still, I'd have been cool with it," Steve said as he dabbed the cool paste on me. "Any chance there might be a consolation session of oral sex anywhere in this break up?"

I raised the eyebrow over my unblackened eye as I looked into his, deciding to play along. "That depends, you any good?"

"Oh man, I got _skillz_."

"Worst line ever, Steve. Tell me you never tried that on someone and have it actually work."

"Shit, back before we teamed up that shit worked all the time. Granted it worked mostly on cape groupies but, Brockton Bay, you know? Never a lack of groupies in a cape city."

Unable to stop myself, I laughed, which had Steve smiling wider at my reaction. "There is no way in hell you are going to convince me your power makes you good at _that._ "

"Natural talent, baby." Steve playfully teased, though even looking into his eyes I couldn't really tell just how much he was joking, and how much he was serious. "Some people got it, some people find themselves lacking where it counts. Me? Got skillz _and_ mad swing. Up for a test drive? Might change your mind about me being your rebound guy."

"Thanks, but I'll pass." I answered dryly as he finished with the cut on my face.

"Open offer," Steve continued wiggling his eyebrows. Now I know he was messing with me, he only went over the top like that when he was playing around. "Just let me know when you want to discover your source of infinite orgasms. I'll hook you up."

Thankfully when I rolled my eyes at his antics it didn't hurt like it would have a few moments ago. The swelling around my eye had even reduced enough I could open it again as I lightly shoved the smirking cape next to me. "Down boy."

Obviously pleased with himself, Steve kept smirking at me while I answered the chime from my omni tool. My own good mood fell as I read the message, twice, before looking over to the table of ex-Cerberus recruits who signed up with us. One in particular.

"Hey, what's up?" Steve asked.

I ignored him, thinking fast. Nothing from the memories I could recall from Sebastian helped me with this, which worried me a lot. It meant we were moving out of safe ground and into the unknown where I wouldn't be able to control the outcome. At least, not as easily. My stare didn't go unnoticed as after a few seconds one of the table mates of the man I was staring at tapped him on the shoulder and pointed at me.

He half turned in his seat, looking questioningly at me before he started looking worried at my focus. "Ah, something wrong, Captain?"

"Hadley, right?" I asked unnecessarily to buy myself an extra moment to order my thoughts.

Hadley turned to those sitting with him. If anything looking even more worried than he did a moment ago, before he turned back to me. "Yes Ma'am."

"You have a brother living on New Canton?" I questioned, confirming what I'd read from the dossier Dinah, Sharee, and Paige put together on him. "Ferris Fields?"

"Ah, yeah?"

My questions to Hadley had everyone's attention focused directly on me but my focus was on only half in the mess as I made my decision. With a nod that was only half to Hadley's answers I stood from the stool I was using. By the entrance closest to Medbay, I noticed Kelly, Paige, Dinah, and Sharee holding a sleeping Alex. Hadley's table mates, as well as Hadley himself, were also looking at me. I didn't need my bugs to know both Steve and Gardner were likewise staring.

"According to Atlas, Ferris Fields is the next likely target for a Collector attack." I stated bluntly. If anything, my words seemed to increase the gloom my questions created. "If they haven't already. There hasn't been a reply to the message he sent them, but there could be any number of reasons why that is so."

"Orders, Matriarch?" Steve immediately asked, realigning the tone within the room.

I directed my gaze to fall equally on each of the ex-Cerberus personnel, ending with Hadley. "I don't care who you used to be, or what you've done in the past. You're one of us now. Something I'm sure you haven't learned about us yet but it's something of a creed with us; we take care of our own."

I turned away to look at Steve. "Recall all personnel and saddle us up for a hot drop. We're looking at practically a thirty hour delay to get there from here. Hopefully this is a wild goose chase, but just in case it's not, I want us ready to hit back when we arrive, and if they are there, I say we hit them _hard_."

My directive was greeted with an unaccustomed, yet loud, 'Aye Aye' from half of those present before people began moving. A chime from my omni tool told me Atlas was listening and sent the recall message.

Steve rose from his stool leaning a big close to me as he spoke. "How certain is Atlas on this?"

"Certain enough."

"Shit. You know, we're doing this completely blind right? We don't know jack about these Collector guys. Even that data we got from Shepard's friend Tali wasn't much. Hell, we haven't even really analyzed it all the way yet, much less done anything about it."

"Yeah," I nodded to his point. "We'll just have to do this by the seat of our pants instead."

"Seat of the pants firefights have never really worked for us in the past. Just talking out loud here."

"That's never stopped us from succeeding before." I reminded him before turning to the cape next to me smirking evilly. "You were right though."

"Awesome," Steve frowned. "What was I right about this time? Cuz, I'm pretty sure I've been right about stuff before, just not sure what you're admitting to this time."

"About how there was no telling where we'd be tomorrow," I clarified. "Looks like that poor bastard you said we'd be stomping into the muck isn't on some faceless world. He's going to be on New Canton, and if anyone needed our boot in their ass, it's the Collectors."


	20. Blue on Black 3

**Blue on Black Story Arc: 4.3**

There was something about the silence between people before doing something risky that was unique to any other kind of silence. It created a kind of awareness that danced along the skin making the air, or in our cases the texture of the interior of our armor, seem heavier. The plan, such as it was, on each of our minds seemingly equally...weighty.

Maybe silence was the wrong word; as just between those of us at the table we were making a bit of a racket with our various individual tasks. Checking sights on our weapons, adjusting them in some cases, swapping out old thermals or power packs for fresh before holstering them and repeating the process with the next. Changing mods to suit our current armor loadouts, having a tinker on the roster at least guaranteed we had plenty of options to choose from, or other bits of tech we favored. As my thoughts wondered, I decided that it wasn't so much the silence or even the lack of conversation. It was the hyper focus each of us had to those tasks that made each event like this unique. Assuming I made it through this thing, I'd probably remember today in the same thought as I was remembering others.

Not that we'd had a lot of moments that quite stacked up to this one. While none of us were strangers to combat, we used to be rather infamous villains after all; it was almost always against an opponent we understood, at least on some level. Mostly our peers or the occasional hero with a stick up his ass or someone else that thought we needed to be 'stopped' for the good of society. Generally capes were people of methods, habits, and/or vices we could easily identify with, or exploit. Didn't matter if they followed the rules or not, that was just the way it worked. Even the Broker was someone we could understand, even relate too. Just another villain really. Even if he was an alien villain who had never heard of Earth Bet. The Collectors now, were a completely different quantity, and not just because Sebastian didn't seem to give me much on them, other than their name and general purpose.

So frustrating, I thought silently as I looked down the sight of my rifle, seeing no changes to the last time I serviced it. Beside me, the guys were doing the same with their gear, final checks. Again I noted the unusual silence between us, the table absent of our usual banter. I guess they were feeling the same apprehension I was, though I couldn't tell from just looking at them. On the outside, each of them were cool, maybe a bit grim, but professional as Sebastian used to say.

I returned my rifle to my back letting it compact out of the way until I needed it. Uber adjusted something on his rifle while Leet looked like he was tweaking the targeting interface on his pistol. When my eyes fell on Gunny, he smirked giving me a thumbs up that he was good. I smiled at his ease; of all of us he had the most experience in something like this from his service days. As I watched, Leet turned to quietly ask Gunny something, which had Gunny nod as he explained whatever it was that answered Leet's question. It reinforced how much each of us thought of the ex-marine that even though Leet built practically every weapon, mod, and bit of tech we carried, he still deferred to Gunny when it came to field applications of his genius.

Unless you knew the guys, you wouldn't know they were just as agitated by the time it took to get here as I was. Normally the time between when we decided to do something stupid and the time we did it was a lot less. Just about all our actions took place on Bet. Not a lot of travel time to get from Point A to Point B when you operate on a single planet from a vessel like the _Exiled_. Usually we just armored up and did it, not much time for it to really sink in until afterward. Maybe it wasn't even our hyper focus either. Maybe it was just us or maybe it was just this time specifically because of the wait.

My gaze moved to the collection of crates Shepard's people co-opted for their use. I was actually surprised when they showed up as we were getting ready to leave. With the change in Shepard's circumstances, I honestly expected the last time I'd see him was in that hallway as he walked away. More surprised that they responded to the recall order than that Atlas had actually included them. During our transit time to New Canton there still hadn't been much interaction between our groups, except for Chakwas. Woman took one look at Steve and me after walking through the airlock and ordered us to _her_ Medbay to verify for herself our damage was superficial. While surprising, I guess it shouldn't have been. Chakwas had always been that way, though I could have done without Joker snickering at us as we complied. Not that any sane person wouldn't have, Chakwas had a mean glare that made you feel like a little schoolgirl when she meant to get her way about something.

In a way it was good to have them with us, though in some ways, I still wasn't sure how I felt about it, and not because I was still in flux separating Shepard from my Sebastian. I think that it had more to do with that I didn't know how his meeting with the Council went, so things were still up in the air on where we stood with each other.

Unlike them, we arrived in the cargo bay to get ready hours ago so we'd technically been ready for a while. Which left us fiddling with our gear and thinking. Taking advantage of their presence, I looked for the differences in how they were dealing with things. Garrus seemed to sleep with his armor and weapons since I'd yet to see the turian without either, so it wasn't surprising to see him ready before he even perched himself on that crate. Liara didn't carry anything more than a sub machine pistol, and the pistol she borrowed from us, so there really wasn't much for her to prepare. Then again, she was a biotic, so her power was really her best weapon anyways and it didn't need tweaking.

Still didn't like the fact she didn't have a better set of armor. The set she was currently wearing was the same from the Broker raid. Something to fix later, I guess.

Garrus seemed the most at ease, but that sort of made sense. If I was remembering it right, he spent the last few years as a vigilante hero on Omega. A funny thing to think about, how he got the hero label in this dimension while we were labeled as villains in ours, and we practically did the same work. Well, sort of. I guess you had to take the environment, not to mention the administration, of Omega into consideration, but still.

Liara didn't look any different than she normally did, which meant she was either really good at hiding her emotions or she was just indifferent to the situation. A funny thing to think about an archeologist, that something like this would be old hat for her, but maybe there was something to her people's long life spans. That or maybe her time aboard the original Normandy with Shepard really did just change her that much. Then again, look back over the guys, I could easily see that.

Then there was Shepard himself.

As the only member on their side without his own gear, he was currently looking through a crate of Cerberus armaments we'd stored as unneeded. Not that there was much on the ship when we stole it, but as a stockpile for just one guy to choose from, it wasn't bad. Not great, and definitely not tinkertech though. Then again, I was biased. No matter how much I razzed Leet about his tech, I trusted his stuff to get the job done over everything else we've come across. If nothing else, his gear made fantastic improvised ordinance. More than a handful of villains knew the truth about that. Well, the ones who could remember it anyways.

"Uber?"

"Yeah?"

I wet my lips, eyes still on Shepard as I forced myself to say the words, "Key please."

The noise level of our table plummeted to true silence that took a few seconds for Uber to break. "There's other stuff…"

"I know," I interrupted him. "But it's the last thing and it's not doing any good sitting in a locker."

" _His_ locker," Uber needlessly reminded me.

It made me smile. While Uber didn't show his sentimental side very often, it cropped up now and then. "Can you think of anyone else he'd rather, much less let, use it than Shepard?"

"...no," Uber sighed. "That doesn't mean I'm cool with this though."

I waited silently. After seeing I wasn't going to budge, Uber sighed again and handed it over. I took the card key from the grumbling cape before raising my voice so it would carry to the other group. "Shepard."

Shepard looked up from frowning at the shotgun in his hands to me. I tilted my head indicating he should join me as I moved over to where we temporarily set up our lockers. Specifically, one particular locker. One that hadn't been opened in since I sealed it sometime after Sebastian died. Once I was standing in front of it, I ran my armored fingers over the nameplate.

"Renegade?"

I smiled softly at Shepard's confused question. "It was Sebastian's cape name on our world."

I almost laughed at the disbelieving tone in Shepard's voice when he asked, "I called myself _Renegade?_ "

"No," I corrected as I slid the key through the reader. "Sebastian did, and he didn't choose it for himself. Tattletale named him. Not inappropriate though, but she had a way of pegging people with a frightening accuracy thanks to her power."

"Okay, but _I am_ Sebastian Shepard." Shepard stated, not without a slight hint of frustration. I figured from his encounter with Anderson and the Council. It made me wonder just how bad that might have gone. "I'm having a hard enough time trying to understand your team without you referring to me as if I'm two separate people, while also referring to 'us' as the same."

"I can see that. In a way, you are Sebastian, and yet, you're not." I corrected, turning to him. "Considering how much we've changed things, you most likely never will be who you were on Earth Bet, so the division."

I turned back to the locker, opening it. Prominently displayed, and taking up most of the space inside, was a brand new suit of body armor. Carefully hung around it, rested a couple of rifles, a few pistols, and a shotgun. Not a single one of them had ever been used outside of testing, and until now, the only hand to ever have touched them had been mine.

I kept my focus on the armor itself and avoiding some of the more personal, and uncomfortably familiar, things that were also stored in here. "After Sebastian died, we went through a bit of a hectic time. Despite what Legend thought, there were a lot of capes who wanted to make a name for themselves by offing the girl who killed an Endbringer and they were emboldened by us being down two people. Things didn't calm down for us until about December of that year. As much as I hate admitting it I was a mess back then. Especially after… one particular incident. Uber suggested I do something to help me move past things. I came up with this. Knowing Sebastian the way I did, it felt fitting."

"Uber?"

"Steve's cape name. Even here, we're still using our cape names in the field. Old habits, I guess." I explained with a shrug. "You'll get used to it."

"Is that why I've heard several people call you 'Matriarch'?"

"Sebastian named me when I couldn't think of one I liked for myself. Bad enough being a bug themed cape, but one with a stupid name? I'd have been ruined before I even started my career. He thought it fit and I've used it ever since." I said before continuing.

"Before Sebastian died, he created blueprints for these with the intention that this would be his gear going forward; Leviathan made the effort moot. Even with Leet's, Greg out of costume, help it still took me just over two months to decipher, much less understand his prints and actually start building them. Despite all the engineering skills he instilled in me. Leet could have done it in fraction of the time with his power, but I wanted to do it myself. Say what you will about him, Sebastian had a way with technology that was just unreal but eventually I started to understand it.

"Anyway, after that I stored them here and sealed it. Been a sort of good luck charm for us. Even considering some of the things that had happened to us over the years, we haven't lost anyone since. No one's even lost so much as a limb; keeping in mind I lost mine some time before all that. I always intended to build a capsule with the intention of sending the contents toward Mindoir, as a tribute to him, but never did it."

During my explanation, I could feel Shepard's eyes on me. Could practically feel him connecting the dots. His following words didn't dissuade my conclusion. "That's a lot of effort to go through for a fallen squad mate."

I instantly threw myself into my bugs to help keep my expression bland as I turned to him, looking into his dark green eyes. _Sebastian's eyes_. "The armor was designed specifically with Sebastian's power in mind. A collaboration between Leet's tinker power and Sebastian's knowledge that was supposed to not only enhance his biotics, but double as an external amp. He didn't have one and didn't know enough about them to design something meant to be installed into the human brain. But with this? If people worried about him before, he'd have skyrocketed to top of the A list afterward. You wouldn't believe how long it took to harvest enough element zero to build the systems installed into the armor alone. It wasn't like we could just steal or buy the stuff. If he'd had it back then, I doubt he'd have died that day."

Still eying me in a way that left no doubt he was trying to figure me out, Shepard asked, "Why show this to me?"

"You need gear. I have gear only you can use. Gear specifically _designed_ just for you to use to do what you know better than the rest of us how to; fight and win. You're already a living wrecking ball swinging through a china shop. Adding our tech to your abilities? I almost feel sorry for the Reapers. I know there were days I felt bad for the PRT and the Protectorate. Not so much later on, but that is a completely different story."

Movement behind Shepard brought my attention to Crewmen Hadley. He was standing a ways back, looking at me like he had something important to say. Thankful for an out, I returned my eyes to Shepard. "How we go forward, whether working together or not, is something we can figure out after the current crisis is over. I get things are messed up for you. Getting spaced and then being brought back by a group you spent so much time trying to shut down would have been enough to throw anyone off. But then you lost two years of your life, and then there's us. If we're not the weirdest crap you've had to deal with, _ever_ , then I don't want to know what is. And not just because of our powers or personalities either.

"Added to that, you're way outside your comfort zone. We don't operate the way you are used to. We don't run things with military doctrine, barely any command structure. We're informal and definitely used to working outside, or as is more often the case, against the rules. However one thing is a fact, we both want the same thing even if we have different reasons for it; to end the threat of the Reapers. I see no reason why we should do that half assed and you're not going to find better gear on the ship. Use it. I think Sebastian would have liked that."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Shepard turned from the retreating form of the confusing woman to the contents of the locker. More questions than answers rolling through his head than ever before. If ever there was a doubt to how well she knew him, this killed it. He knew his own work when he saw it. Apparently, that even included work he had yet to even design.

Over the years, like most engineers, he'd slowly refined his skills into a specialty. It's saved his life more than once over the course of his career in the Alliance. He'd probably logged more time between missions tinkering with his weapons and armor than anyone else he knew. Always taking the last encounter and finding ways to push the tech envelope to turn Alliance standard issue equipment into something that even the best buy able weapons and armor were hard pressed to match. Tali often teasingly called his knack for salvaging and turning substandard equipment into something, not just useful but exceptional, almost quarian.

More than the fact it was obviously hand tooled and new made, Shepard could practically see his past in the make of it. The ablative plating was just slightly off the hex standard, a trick he picked up from a salarian back in his non-com days who knew more about demolitions than most experts in the field. The alteration itself offered only a five percent additional protection in shrapnel deflection, but that could be the difference between a flesh wound you can live with, and one that has you bleeding out before reinforcements arrive. The non-reflective gun metal black was even different than factory standard, a trick he learned from an asari huntress who fought beside him during the Blitz. It only offered a slight decrease in visibility over the standard version, but again, that could be the difference in remaining unseen long enough to break a guard's neck, or getting spotted and ruining an op. Here and there he saw other improvements and tricks he learned over the years. All rolled into this one suit of armor. Several of them were things he recognized as things he developed himself that he was pretty damn sure no one else knew. Improvements that might offer only one or two percent advantages, but were still advantages you didn't see outside custom work. It also showed how much effort and knowledge went into the design to see them all employed so effortlessly.

And those were just the physical tells. If what Hebert said was true, the tech itself was likely to be just as customized. Practically revolutionary if the biotic interface alone was everything she said it was.

"There's other stuff you can use."

Shepard turned to find three of Hebert's team facing him. Hebert's right hand, Baker was standing middle and the obvious speaker. A swarthy guy that had the bearing of a military man, Marino Shepard thought his name was, put his hand on Baker's shoulder. "Easy, amigo."

"Fuck that!" Steve swore as he turned to man to his left. "He wasn't there when we spent weeks trying to keep her from killing herself after that shit in Montreal. Man, if he'd been there like he was supposed to… Gunny, you weren't there for most of it, you don't know how much this meant to her back then..."

"Uber," The third one wearing a visor put his own hand on Baker's shoulder. "You know better than to bring up shit like that. Besides, you said it and if she didn't want him using it, she wouldn't have opened it for him. Let the man get ready, if Matriarch is right about New Canton, we have enough shit to deal with."

"Fine, fuck it," Steve muttered, brushing off the hands of his friends and turning away. "I'm going to go find out what's going on with Hadley." He only took a few steps before turning around again to dead stare right at Shepard. "Earn that shit. _You_ haven't yet."

The military man shook his head following after leaving Shepard with the last of the trio. "Sorry about that. Most of the time my man's laid back like a lazy boy, but when it comes to stuff that hits close to home, he's more like TNT that's sat around for a few too many years. Or one of my old tinker projects past its expiration date. Either makes a roman candle look like a pop rock."

Shepard nodded. What he understood from that statement meshed with what he'd observed about Baker so far. "I'll take your word for it. Is he going to be alright for the mission?"

Richardson nodded easily. "He'll be fine once there's someone shooting at him, don't worry about that. It's just stuff from back then, you know?"

Shepard shook his head. "The more I learn about you people, the less I understand."

"We're not that complicated a group." Richardson countered. "It's just that you, _Renegade._ He's a bit of a sore spot with all of us."

Shepard sighed.

"Look, the main thing you need to understand is where we were when we teamed up. Dude, even our powers were barely considered mid-tier on our world, and man, that's being generous. That goes for Matriarch too. Seriously, bugs? I mean yeah, there's a creeping doom kind of fear factor there, but really, bug control? Shit.

"Hell, Uber and I were just another pair of C rank villains back then. I mean, look at us. A skill master and a guy who can't even trust his own tech? Gunny was a suicidal jarhead looking for a fight, guy doesn't even have a power. Siren was an entertainer and even Rorrim was just a college student. Individually, our powers were nothing compared to the real heavies who lived the game. Matriarch changed that. For me, Matriarch showed me I didn't have to be a slave to my power's whims, that I could be more than the tinker with the power that was trying to kill him.

"That alone would have been game changing, but then there was Renegade. Man, that guy. Renegade taught me his tech and explained the sciences involved so I could understand what my power made, and recreate it and actually improve it. He showed us all how we could be heroes in our own right. That might not mean anything to you, but that shit was life changing to us. We went from being the jokes of the Bay, to a team known all over the world. No matter our press, we helped a lot of people and stopped a lot of bad ones."

Richardson turned around to look at the armor that still rested with the open locker. "The only thing to understand is that everyone on the team has a story like this. It's why Renegade is a sore spot with us and why we follow Matriarch. We might just be some merc team to you, but to us, we're a family. For most of us, the only real family any of us ever had."

"That is the part I don't understand," Shepard stated. "I can see how close your team is, but why come here? Surely your world couldn't have been that bad to think coming here and fighting _Reapers_ was better."

Richardson smiled. "Each of us had our own reasons, but in general I'll say if you'd been raised on Earth Bet, you'd have left town too. Shit, even the parallel Earths we hit weren't any better. Just different shit to deal with. For me, miss a chance like this? Man, when I was a kid I used to dream of this kind of thing when I was hiding from my dad after one of his benders. No dude, when Taylor asked me if it could be done, I knew I was goin'. If I have to help Matriarch kill Reapers to get to the fun stuff, then that is what I'm going to do."

A shrill whistle broke their conversation and brought everyone's attention to the center of the cargo bay. Matriarch was standing next to one of the ex-Cerberus recruits with Baker. A terminal set up on a small crate between them.

"Twenty minutes out and Joker says we're able to get live feed now!" She shouted.

The man beside him turned back, "Better gear up man. That's her 'move your ass' tone so it must be important."

Before he could turn away, Shepard lightly grabbed his arm. "Montreal?"

Richardson's expression blanked. It was a look Shepard had seen on more than a few marines over the years, and it never spelled anything good. "Dark times man. Leave it be."

"I respect that, but I need to know if me using this is going to impact the mission," Shepard pressed. "The way you talk, Hebert's your heavy in the team and by her tone just now, we're in for a fight. Distractions get people killed. Distracted team leaders get squads killed. We can't afford either."

Shepard watched several conflicted expressions cross the man's face before he sighed, "Fuck you man. Look, Matriarch said she was good with this. I trust her to know herself not to mind fuck her own shit."

"Montreal."

"We don't talk about it." Richardson muttered gruffly as he freed his arm from Shepard with a slight jerk. "All you need to know about that shit is the same thing Earth Bet needed to know. You can break her, but you can't stop her."

"What happened?" Shepard knew he was pushing it, but something told him that whatever information Greg was hiding, was key to who Hebert was now. Whatever it was explained how she changed from the woman in the vids, to who he'd been dealing with.

"The Devil took her for his own," Richardson snarled at Shepard's persistence even as he walked away. "And after she was done with him, Bet knew she could make even the Devil beg for mercy. No matter how much she loved him."


	21. Blue on Black 4

**Blue on Black Story Arc: 4.4**

Looking into the old mirror in the locker, Shepard took a good look at the armor Hebert gave him. It was bulky, easily the heaviest thing he'd ever used or owned. Hard planes along both his chest and back met with reinforced plates that left very little unprotected by only ballistic cloth. As he moved feeling no resistance, Shepard realized that the suit must have had miniature motorized joints on top of everything else. Somehow, and Shepard had no idea how she did it, but somehow Hebert made this thing impervious to scanning via omni tool. It linked into his implant easily enough, which was fortunate, but it was heavily shielded from anything external.

Alliance R&D would sell their souls to the batarians for information on just half of the systems Shepard knew were in this thing. It was leagues ahead of even theoretical tech back before he was spaced.

Closing the locker door and turning away from the stenciled name on it, Shepard moved to join the others. Once he was close enough to see the terminal screen, Hebert looked up at him from where she was kneeling. A small smile on her face as her eyes looked over the armor. Shepard wasn't sure what exactly that expression was on her face, Hebert was difficult to read half the time, but if he had to guess he would have said some sort of pride mixed with remembrance. It lasted long enough that the others gathered around took notice and started looking him over as well. Except for Baker, who was obvious in how he was avoiding looking even in Shepard's general direction. Instead, he was watched Hebert as if he was trying to gauge her reaction.

"Yeah, I think Sebastian would have approved of this," Hebert mumbled approvingly.

"Thanks." Shepard muttered uncomfortably at the attention that was being directed at him.

Still smiling to herself, Hebert nodded. "You're welcome. I think you'll notice the difference in what you're used to and this suit right away. You'll need to charge the biotic interface planet side since that system wasn't designed to be used in conjunction with someone who already has an amplifier. Sebastian's notes mentioned he expected some bleed out the first time and I'd rather that happened somewhere other than orbit. Just in case. I'm more than confident the system can take it but better safe than sorry."

"Understandable." Shepard agreed. "What's the situation?"

Returning to business, Hebert looked back to the screen they were all huddled around. Shepard did as well, ignoring the raised fringe from his friend. The screen showed the colony's layout, as well as the huge ship that was currently parked within it.

"The Collectors are here, and by what we're seeing, have been for a while. No activity anywhere on the surface except for here at the hub. That tells me they've already harvested most of the population, or are close to it. Most of the activity is here, near the ship."

"Slavers typically fortify the processing center they establish around the loading dock to their ships," Shepard stated knowingly. "It looks like these Collectors are doing the same thing, except there's no fortifications. Just processing and loading."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. It confirms Veetor's data. They're not expecting any resistance. Whatever resistance there might have been was dealt with long before and they're not expecting anything new to show."

"More than likely because of those bug things they use," Baker mumbled. "I wish we knew more about them, but Veetor's omni tool couldn't figure it out. Just confusing currents of Dark Energy. Video showed them looking like really big hornets or something though."

"Yeah, but I'm not getting my hopes up that I can control them." Hebert stated, shooting down the idea before it was even aired. "Our hardsuits seal, so we should be alright. It worked for Veetor and I had Atlas update the harmonics for all our kinetic barriers to match. Just in case that had something to do with how he escaped notice."

"If not, we're not going to be able to do much. Except add ourselves to the colonists." Garrus pointed out.

"Well, you got ten minutes to figure out another idea before we leave, Garrus." Hebert stated blandly as she pointed at the screen. "Assuming we do head out. As best as we can tell, things are not completely screwed, but they're screwed enough. According to what we're seeing here, they're still a ways off from finishing loading so that gives us an opportunity to do something."

"What did you have in mind?" Liara asked.

"That's the question." Hebert mumbled before she raised her voice. "Options are in short supply as to what we _can_ do. According to EDI, the Normandy doesn't have the firepower to breach the Collector ship's hull even if its barriers were down. Not unless we were willing to utilize the handful disruptor torpedoes we have, which is Option One."

"That's going to make any attempt at rescuing anyone not already in the ship a moot point." Shepard stated with a frown. "Those warheads create random and unstable mass effect fields when triggered. Those fields warp space-time in a localized area creating a rapid asymmetrical mass that causes the target to rip itself apart. Looking at these readings they have some kind of tech that's interfering with our sensors so that means pitting the Normandy against that ship at knife fight range so that each hit exactly where we target. The colony around the ship won't survive. Even if we didn't miss, the inevitable distortion eddies would make sure of that."

"Yeah, that was what EDI said." Hebert agreed with a grimace. "Not to mention, that ship is way too big for us to take down with what armaments we do have. The sad fact is the best we could do is drive it off. Even if we used every torpedo we have. Worse, there wouldn't be any payout. Aside from denying them any more people. Option Two isn't much better, carries a lot more risk, but is more satisfying. Unfortunately, the end result isn't much better."

"That doesn't sound good," Garrus grumbled.

"Option Two is we take a shuttle, land, and kill them until they decide they've had enough, and leave. With EDI and Atlas's help, Joker could then hit them with what we have. I will note that consensus right now between EDI and Atlas says at best we'd hurt them, but it's very unlikely we would manage to weaken them enough for a chance to destroy, much less board her. Even if we threw everything we have at her and everything hit. From the scans we have so far, we're just too out classed."

"So it's a choice of saving a few, or saving none." Shepard stated grimly.

"Yeah," Hebert sighed as she placed her hand on Hadley's shoulder.

Tactically, Shepard knew the best thing to do was Option One. Over the years he spent fighting pirates and slavers, and later seeing what typically happens to those poor people whom he couldn't save, he found it just more humane to end them now before they could end up living such a horrible existence. More than that however, was the fact the second plan was practically suicide. A ship that size would have to have a crew of at least eighty, though it could easily be double that. By size alone, the Collector ship was almost a Dreadnought. Easily Carrier class.

Taking into account the kind of cargo space they had to have in that thing, that slavers typically operated with a heavy ground team, how quickly they have taken a colony's population, and the sizes of said populations, there could be anywhere from two hundred to four hundred enemy combatants waiting for them down there. If not double that, which was highly likely all things considered.

They would have to kill enough of them to force them to abandon those they had yet to load. To do that the ground team would need to cut through hundreds of enemy with just seven operatives. Driving the enemy back until they couldn't hold ground or risk the ground assault becoming a boarding action. All the while doing that while somehow keeping the enemy from just swamping them in numbers and forcing them to turtle up or be overwhelmed.

They'd have better odds trying to get Wrex to civilly share a meal with Sparatus without trying to make the surly turian the main course than their chances here.

Shepard looked at Garrus and easily noted he'd come to the same conclusion. As had Liara when he turned to her. All three of them wore grim expressions that spoke of how much they didn't like the facts before them, but understood the realities of the current situation. However, before Shepard could voice his conclusion, Hebert started talking again.

"The Collectors haven't figured out we're here yet, so we have that going for us. A fact that will change the second we try something. While the second option looks impossible, Hadley's come up with an idea that I think might work."

The so far quiet man next to Hebert cleared his throat and pointed out a building on the outskirts of the colony hub's administration district. "The last few times I've talked to Andrew, he's told me about this one problem that's been plaguing the colony's defense grid. That problem being how they couldn't close circuit the grid so that only Administration could turn it on or off. Some kind of ghost glitch, he called it. They almost lost a supply shuttle a few weeks ago because of a crossed communique between a sensor subsystem and the main array that made the shuttle appear as a Batarian Raider."

"Was that subsystem in the security annex?" At Hadley's surprised nod, Shepard nodded as well while he played through the likely reasons for the issue. "Sounds like someone didn't calibrate the Mech VI Control Nexus right. They use a similar comm frequency and while they use different IFF codes for ground targeting vs space, the code for a human vandalizing colonial property is pretty close to a Batarian Raider. If the com frequencies for both systems were piggybacked like they were on Mindoir that would happen every time a mech reported vandalism if there happened to be a ship in orbit."

Hadley shrugged, obviously only following the gist. "I don't know about that, but Andrew was positive the last time I talked to him that the issue was originating from the security annex. The problem he had was the issue only popped up a few times and wasn't traceable. Admin decided it was just a glitch and sent him to do other stuff. Andrew was really upset they wouldn't let him keep working on it. Knowing my brother the way I do, he wouldn't have let it go. If he managed to fix it, he would have flatlined me to brag about it. Since he didn't I think it's something we can use."

"How so? I can understand activating the colonies mech defenses but I'm not following how else this would help us."

"Ferris Fields doesn't have Guardian Turrets like some of the richer colonies have," Hadley informed them while pointing out various locations on the displayed map. "What they do have are the older Phoenix Cannons that were popular about twenty years ago."

"Burst Guns?" Shepard asked looking more intrigued as he leaned closer. "Those were good defense guns back in the day. I doubt they'd have the penetration power to do much against the Collector ship at range, which was always the problem with them, but with it just sitting there like that? It would be like shooting a watermelon with a shotgun. Even with their barriers up, they wouldn't be able to take that kind of pounding for long."

"Exactly. The Collector ship is right on top of Administration, but if you reactivated the defense guns at the security annex and the mechs, they'd have to leave."

"Assuming we could make use of the glitch your brother found." Garrus pointed out, which instantly quieted everyone. "Which is a really big 'if'. Especially since according to these scans, the security annex is on the outside of their processing center, but it is still well inside their lines."

"I can help with that."

Seven pairs of eyes turned slowly to the detention cell behind them, and the new voices owner. Miranda Lawson was standing right at the field's edge where she could easily see the screen and hear them plan.

"Yeah Princess?" Baker drawled. "Man, you got my attention, and not just because of that uniform you poured yourself into."

From the corner of his eye, Shepard watched Hebert subtly elbow Baker in the leg; the wryly smiling woman wiggled eyebrows at his comment. Baker rolled his eyes before folding his arms and focusing on Lawson. Shepard noted the exchange wasn't missed by the imprisoned woman.

Frowning, Lawson explained evenly, which surprised Shepard as the twitch in her eye gave away her thoughts on Hebert's antics. "Eight months ago the Illusive Man sent agents to every colony in the Terminus. Each sleeper agent was tasked with finding a way to tap into monitoring stations, communication, and the defense grid as a fallback in case of attack. Our agent here would have done the same."

"In case you haven't noticed Cupcake, he failed." Steve pointed out unnecessarily. "You know, since none of that shit is turned on."

Lawson narrowed her dark eyes. "He might have failed, but I still have override access that can enable those programs. Even better, I'm fully aware of our agent's procedures so I know where he would have installed his access node to tap into those systems."

The field in front of Lawson winked out of existence. Without missing a beat, Hebert's men pulled pistols and trained them on Lawson while Herbert herself, being the only one not surprised, tilted her head at the terminal. "Show me."

Being careful to keep her hands were the three armed men pointing pistols at her could see, Lawson walked toward them until she was close enough to take a knee next to Hebert.

"There."

Hebert nodded almost in tandem with Shepard. Hebert remained quiet while he voiced his thought on the placement. "He utilized the water treatment power lines, backpacking his signal over the existing network."

"Correct, Shepard."

"Of course he did. Those lines would have run through the whole colony as well as distorting his own signal. There wouldn't have been anything he couldn't have tapped into if he was careful." Herbert agreed. "You think you can activate the mechs and the guns using his access node?"

"The mechs for sure," Lawson answered without a trace of hesitation. "The defense guns however, are another matter. Early reports from our operatives showed a lack of success getting access. However, we would still be in a prime location for an assault going forward. We would still have to fight our way to the security annex, or Administration if that does not work."

Garrus's deep resonating grumble spoke next. "We could easily put the shuttle down there, but it puts us a fair distance from security. Not sure how long we can depend on the mechs to keep them distracted, but we might make it to the security annex before things became uncomfortable. But if we can't get the defense guns to fire from there, it's going to be a hard, bloody walk to Administration."

"True," Lawson agreed. "However, this is a better location for insertion since it would also cut down on any chance of Collector small arms fire shooting the shuttle out of the air."

" _ETA, two minutes. Times up boys and girls."_ Jokers voice broke through the overhead speakers. " _And we have issues."_

"What's going on, Joker?" Shepard asked.

" _Targeting scanners are lighting up our screens. So far they haven't managed to get a lock, but it's not for the lack of trying. Pretty sure they know something's here, just not where yet. You won't be able to have that shuttle in the air long with them searching like this."_

"Well, there is still the first option," Lawson stated dryly.

While he agreed with that grim point, Shepard's eyes were on Hebert as she looked at Baker.

Baker smirked. "Shit, you know me; I throw dice for no fucking reason."

The dark haired woman's smile was just as mischievous as she turned to each of her people receiving nods before bringing her eyes to Shepard's own. "Think you can keep Lawson in line?"

Someone else spoke before Shepard could do more than raise his eyebrow. "Hey, if you guys are going to go out there to shoot bad guys, would you mind letting me in on the fun?"

Again, all eyes turned to cell that stood next to Lawson's. Jacob Taylor stood at the front, hands across his chest. "Unlike Miranda, I don't mind military rations, but I'd rather be out there shooting things than sitting here wondering what you're going to do with me."

Shepard turned back to Hebert questioningly. While he wasn't sold on how useful in the field Hebert and her people would be, he couldn't deny how well informed she was. "He's good. Alliance trained. Served a few years with the Corsairs before joining Cerberus. Think Garrus with a shotgun but with more biotics and less attitude."

"High praise." The turian muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Hebert's chuckle was joined by a few others as Shepard nodded, "And Lawson?"

Ignoring the frowning woman next to her, Hebert answered. "Has the attitude Jacob lacks. Also a biotic, though she's more of a tactician than a grunt. She was the lead on the station that fixed you, so she's already invested. Same with Jacob. Also, this is her chance to get close to you and show what Cerberus has to offer. Neither of them, especially Lawson, is going to jeopardize the opportunity to sell Cerberus as a viable employer for this venture. Much less let anything happen to you though I'll be surprised if she doesn't throw in a few digs about how if we hadn't of interfered, this whole situation would have turned out differently."

"It would have," Lawson immediately stated. "The Illusive Man already had a plan in place and if you hadn't of interfered the mission would have started _weeks_ ago."

"See?" Hebert snorted as she deactivated the field keeping Jacob prisoner. "I intended to deal with them a while back, but events sort of got ahead of us. We can settle where they stand with us, after we figure out where we stand with each other. After we deal with the Collectors."

"What's the plan?" Shepard asked knowing that Hebert was obviously sold on Option Two.

Still smirking, Hebert replied, "Hachidan Kiritsu."

Shepard blinked as without another word, Hebert rose and walked to the shuttle. The others in her group following suit; all but one chuckling at her enigmatic comment. She only stopped to say something to Hadley before moving on. Whatever it was had the man looking both hopeful, and resigned.

"This should be interesting," Shepard mumbled to himself as he turned to Lawson and Taylor. "If you're coming, I'd grab a weapon; looks like we're leaving. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure her people are going to put you back in those cells until we get back."

Not needing to be told twice, both Cerberus Operatives did as instructed returning armed in record time. Hebert had the shuttle prepped and ready by the time they entered. Surprisingly she waved Taylorover and immediately switched with him.

Picking up her helmet, she paused when she noticed Shepard's raised eyebrow. "It's better if I don't drive. Sebastian taught me and I've been banned by the guys from driving anything smaller than the _Exiled_ when others are with me. I, apparently, have way too much fun doing it."

Shepard blinked, purposefully ignoring the shared look between Garrus and Liara while Hebert put on her helmet. Shepard was pretty sure he should be insulted by that, but wasn't completely sure so didn't comment.

In no time at all, the shuttle shuddered, jostling everyone as it hit atmosphere. Even with the internal dampeners running, it was a rough ride as Joker wasn't sitting still when they separated. Taylor's sure, but inexpert maneuvers didn't help matters but they had a limited window to work with. Everyone seemed to take it in stride though. Shepard took in those assembled and shook his head. For a hodgepodge mission, he'd seen worse. Though that wasn't any kind of ringing endorsement. Those missions didn't end up 'good' missions.

"Where am I setting down, Ma'am?" Taylor asked from the pilot seat with a professional detachment that belied the fact he was a prisoner only a few minutes ago.

Hebert instantly answered without looking up from her omni tool. From the look of it, she was monitoring their approach. "Where Lawson said she could access your spy's network."

"Aye aye."

"It's the best of all available plans." Liara reluctantly agreed. "We should avoid even trying to work our way to the Security Annex, and go straight for Administration once Lawson activates the mechs. Hopefully, with the confusion of their reactivation, we will have enough time to breach the building."

Shepard nodded as that made the most sense to him as well. He turned back to Hebert to ask what she thought, when she surprised him by opening the shuttles door.

"You do that." She stated with her back to them before leaping from the shuttle.

Shocked beyond his senses, Shepard moved to the door seeing her body falling rapidly away.

"Out of the way, Scrub."

Baker used his armored shoulder to move Shepard and take his place at the door. Without any preamble, he also jumped. He was quickly followed by Marino before Richardson stood at the opening.

"Man, I fucking hate it when she does this…" The man uttered before he too jumped.

"Ah, is anyone else going to jump out of a perfectly good shuttle?" Taylor asked in a slightly frazzled tone. "If not, can someone close that door before one of us takes a lucky hit from the bad guys looking to kill us? I can have us down in a moment where we'll have firm ground under us for when the shooting starts."

As no one else looked ready to follow suit, Shepard closed the door. She wouldn't have done that if she didn't have a tech that would keep her from getting killed, would she? Even as ludicrous as that thought was, Shepard had to wonder if there was even tech that could do that. He didn't see anything on their armors that suited the situation.

Shepard found he couldn't answer that question with what he knew of Hebert so far, but he felt pretty confident the other three wouldn't have followed if that wouldn't have survived. Not to mention Richardson's comment made it sound like this wasn't the first time Hebert did something like this. All Shepard could think was he'd seen soldiers do some pretty unbelievable things to put the odds in their favor, but this was an honest first.

 _"Matriarch has relayed the following message."_ EDI's voice stated, breaking stunned silence in the shuttle. _"Shepard's team is to continue with the plan as previously outlined. Her team will infiltrate the Security Annex and rejoin the squad at Administration."_

"You know, I never thought I would say this and actually be taken seriously, much less _mean it_." Garrus stated, sounding just as stunned as Shepard felt. "But, I think Hebert is crazier than you are, Shepard."


	22. Blue on Black 5

**Blue on Black Story Arc: 4.5**

Four impacts rained in tandem kicking up a massive cloud of dust. As I waited for my tech to release me I watched the reactions of the only witnesses of our arrival. Thankfully, the modified stasis field popped before they moved more than a few steps. Through the enhanced imaging optics Leet installed into my helmet, I easily noticed the three insect like humanoid figures. Each practically identical to each other in beige organic looking armor, wide heads, and four golden glowing eyes.

Collectors.

I tilted my head as I pulled the Paladin free from its holster at my thigh; watching it approach through the swirling dust our arrival kicked up. By the way its head twitched and wings buzzed it knew something was here, but not what or where. That was good to know, their vision might be good, but obviously wasn't super powered or teched.

All three carried strange looking organic rifles at the ready. These Collectors didn't move in a way that indicated a hive mind, yet I wasn't seeing the individuality I expected either. Their armor looked tough though, despite that there didn't seem to be any difference between its style and their heads. Well, one way to test that. Our obscurement was fading anyway. I raised my pistol; taking aim for the small bug dead center in the creatures triangular forehead.

I squeezed the trigger. Its head rocked back just like any other living thing I'd shot before. It dropped instantly as I adjusted my aim to cover the next one. The two remaining Collectors brought weapons to their shoulders but the fact they didn't already have me sighted let me fire two more times dropping them as easily as the first.

That was entirely too easy. No barriers? I narrowing my eyes. That didn't feel right. I racked my mind trying to remember something, _anything_ , from the fragments I acquired from Sebastian but came up dry by the time Uber, Leet, and Gunny stepped up next to me.

"Normal comms are down," Leet stated once he was beside me. "There's some kind of interference being broadcast from the Collector ship. I think it's what prevented the colonists from getting a mayday out."

I nodded, noting the same thing from my own readouts. It wouldn't stop those of us with the QEC tech we developed, but not all of us had it yet. Still, it was a good thing to note, even if it was a bit late to do anything about it now. I had a bad feeling as I stood in the settling dust, that this was likely going to be one of many things we were going to have to learn the hard way.

Assuming we all walked away from today that would be alright, it wasn't like we were strangers to being ill informed about a situation. We knew beforehand we were probably going to end up reacting more than executing a plan. Instead of spinning my mental wheels over our situations, I _reached_.

"So, how we doin' this?" Uber asked.

"All out." There was no hesitation in my reply. "These aren't capes and we didn't come here to fight. I don't know about you guys, but I know I didn't get all dressed up to showboat."

"There is a time and place for it." Gunny agreed as he hefted the massive rifle in his hands. "I know I came with my war paint on and my boots laced _tight_."

Normally, and especially lately, I'd been limited in scope. However, New Canton wasn't a space station. I didn't need to limit myself to a hallway, room or even one ship. Our field of battle didn't necessitate a need for hiding my powers. Not here. Here, I was in my element. My conscious awareness spread outward to every bug within my considerable range. Crawlers, fliers, burrowers, and every single insect no matter if it was native to this world, or imported by the colonists to help with crops, was instantly, and irrevocably, _mine_.

I raised my hand, reveling in the feeling. New bugs I wasn't familiar with I tested quickly to get a feel for them while moving fliers to pick up ground bound bugs. The disproportion of ground bugs vs flying types meant I had more of the former to work with. Those I didn't see an immediate need for I moved to map everything in my range or to slow march where I expected I'd need them.

Building faces, air cars, every piece of litter, trashcan, pole, everything whether it moved or not. One of the greatest issues with my power, was how slow most bugs were. A fact easily offset with planning and thinking in stages. Even as my swarm moved to the multitude of directions I sent them, already spiders, or their equivalents, spun silk while other bugs paired off depending on tactics that worked for me in the past.

"Looks like the welcoming communities here," Leet mumbled from beside me. I already knew of course, but the guys got upset when I pointed that out unnecessarily so I stayed quiet. Instead I extended my finger to study what looked like a butterfly, but was nothing like one I'd ever seen. The coloring was almost neon, and it was poisonous. Not venomous, sadly, but whatever ingested it would regret it quick. Too bad these Collectors didn't have mouths.

I turned my physical focus to the arrival of eight more Collectors on buzzing wings, the same Leet noticed a moment ago. The lead figure had only just landed, when behind them came a sound of more wings.

All four of us looked behind the new arrivals, seeing what looked like a large cloud of insects swirling chaotically as it approached. It was reminiscent of my early swarms when I was trying to intimidate capes I was hunting. Loud and obvious; not to mention sloppy as they wavered back and forth in a menacing manner as it came closer. Bugs that size should have been all over us by now. Would have been had I been directing them. Still, I could see the value in the tactic. Most people found that kind of thing terrifying as it played to the primal fears they didn't realize they carried.

Shepard's shuttle touched down at almost the same time. He was just at the edge of my range but close enough for me to see the door open and his squad file out. Even now I couldn't really see through bug eyes but I'd long adapted to the point that it didn't really matter. With enough bugs, what information I did get could be instantly rendered as a kind of sight to my mind.

I tagged Shepard's squad, keeping my bugs movements subtle to not startle them. Bad ass soldiers of doom or not, I doubted they were going to react better than anyone else usually did and I needed to be able to keep tabs on them since we were separated. By the time Shepard took several steps away from the others I had already gathered a significant portion of bugs by the shuttle while I spread the rest away from them looking for threats.

Watching the Collector Swarm approach I realized they were immune to my power, but I figured they would be. I couldn't even feel them there at all, which told me they were either augmented somehow by the Collectors -not unreasonable all things considered- or they weren't bugs at all but just looked and sort of acted like bugs. Then again, I'd come across things in the past that I should have been able to control, but couldn't because they were under the control of another cape, so really, I didn't know much more than the obvious.

That was fine. I already knew how I was going to deal with this. My counter was already massing, wouldn't be long now.

Suddenly every bug I had on Shepard died simultaneously. Others I had in the area easily confirming the reason I suspected. While bugs died in a wide variety of ways, and I'd experienced just about every way they could be killed, there was something unique about when they were killed by dark energy. A unique… taste, if you will. I felt/sensed/saw the ground ripple under Shepard's feet as he cut loose his powers to charge the armor system Sebastian devised. The ground rippled, buckled and then broke creating a depression six inches deep and extending several feet away from him.

" _You're a monster, Shepard…"_ I heard him whisper to himself so low I doubted anyone else heard him.

I frowned; hating that was the first place he went. I, better than anyone _fully_ understood what Sebastian thought of himself. I didn't give him that armor to make him remember something like _that_.

I sighed mentally as my bugs gathered, forming into a clone of myself beside him. I manipulated their mandibles and wings to speak in the buzzing clicking monotone my bug clones used to be well known for. " _Bleed out was a bit more than I expected. Any adverse response to the armor? Feedback?"_

In front of me, the noise of small beating wings increased as the cloud continued to approach. The Collectors appeared to be content to wait for them to deal with us since we weren't attacking. Our little standoff half reminded me of that Gala the Protectorate was hosting we hit when we were after Coil. As the seconds passed, you could almost taste the tension between our groups. The lack of instant aggression suited me just fine as I reformed my bug clone next to Shepard after it was blown in half by Jacob's shotgun.

Maybe the clone was too realistic?

" _Please don't do that. You just killed one hundred and forty six of my bugs to no purpose. Flying insects are at a premium right now."_

When I first came up with the idea of bug clones I just used my flyers to make ghostly outlines within the swarm to direct minions or to scare our opposition. But ghost clones felt weak and any weakness while being as notorious as we used to be was just an invite for some random schmuck to come kill you. My current models didn't display any such thing, and I was actually rather proud of how the final design came out.

I had bugs layered in a way that gave the impression it was my exact duplicate; just comprised of bugs. Hood, weapons, even armored panels were all defined by bug bodies creating as much realism as possible considering the source material.

I sensed five pairs of eyes staring at my clone in a combination of freak out and disbelief. Up to this point only Liara and Garrus had seen me use my bugs so it was kind of understandable, though I didn't employ them like this. As I looked over the expressions of Shepard's squad through my bugs, I couldn't help but think that some people just didn't appreciate a work of art for what it was.

" _By the Goddess, is that_ you _, Taylor?"_ Liara asked.

" _Yes."_

" _Spirits…"_ Rifle held tightly in his hand, Garrus's sharp eyes looked over my clone.

Their stares lasted long enough I felt slightly self-conscious; which caused a rippling reaction in my clone as wings buzzed in reaction to my emotion.

I ignored it all as best as I could turning my clones head to Shepard. " _Comms are down except for Liara's as she has one of our older omni tools. I'm going to keep a bug clone or two close to you until our squads rejoin. How does the biotic interface feel?"_

My question was met with stunned silence. Seeing that any response was unlikely, I let it drop, " _Your group needs to hurry along. My team is getting their attention now, but you have six Collectors flying your way right now. I will keep the enemy bugs off you and point out targets so you won't be ambushed. Judging by what I'm seeing I don't think it will take long before they send more than a scouting party to investigate where the shuttle went. Hopefully you'll have the mechs active before they wise up."_

" _Right,"_ Shepard stated as he instantly refocused to the task at hand. One of the things I always admired, and later loved about Sebastian was how he liked my power. Never once did he ever complain about how creepy or weak it was. Rather he was always quick to keep me from doubting my abilities, to push myself to take it further and exploit my control over a swarm. With Shepard's helmet in place I couldn't get a firm grasp of his reaction to seeing me employ my power, but by his voice I knew it wasn't what I expected. Not from him. " _How far to the node Miranda needs to access?"_

" _One hundred and six yards north-east. I have already marked the location. Just look for the butterflies, you can't miss it."_

Keeping everything strait in real time was old hat for me, and talking to Shepard's group while keeping an iron focus on the enemy in front of me wasn't any different. The entire exchange didn't take long, but by the time the Collector Swarm arrived, so had my counter to them. I smiled as my swarm coalesced.

There was an interesting fun fact about bugs that I figured most people in this universe didn't know, and people on Earth Bet knew far too well. Even though bugs were generally unfriendly with each other, my bugs didn't suffer under any such a handicap. When you add this little bit of trivia to the fact that there are more bugs in an empty one square mile field than humans on Earth, things got _interesting_. Considering my range, things got interesting _fast_.

Something that became _very_ apparent as I supplemented my growing swarm from my own horde within the Instant Swarm Box on my back. While my power did not extend a full mile in any one direction, it did extend over three thousand feet with myself at the center. I might not be standing in an empty field, but this _was_ a farming colony. Even the hub was _rich_ in minions.

Thousands of gathering bugs became tens of thousands. Those tens became hundreds and still it grew as more and more bugs arrived. Even as it rose well into the millions of individual bugs, tendrils of even more flying insects all carrying ground bugs of their own, continued to rise from everywhere within my reach to join into the massive swarm that started blocking out the light of the sun.

If this didn't draw the lion's share of the attention our way, nothing would. Something I felt good about judging by the reaction my growing swarm was generating since not all of them were massing. Just those I wanted too for effect. The Collectors looked upward, and even though their eyes did not widen, there was a sharpening of color that indicated a similar reaction.

"So, you like to play with bugs?" I muttered quietly, half to myself. "How cute."

Uber and Gunny chuckled at my comment. Leet grunted.

"I like bugs too," I whispered. For over a year these guys had enjoyed attacking defenseless targets before disappearing with no consequences.

That was going to change today.

The butterfly on my finger took flight to join its fellows. The lead Collector jibbered something that made the others raise weapons and immediately seek cover; the stalemate broken. Hypersonic rounds barked as we opened fire, moving to cover of our own. Almost overriding our opening salvo, my swarm descended from the sky flooding the area, and our opposition. Bugs bit, dug, blinded, and bound the Collectors through a static of crisscrossing weapons fire.

There was four hundred and sixteen yards between us and the Security Annex and as we cut down half of those currently between us and our goal, I knew more was on the way.

On the outskirts of my range, Shepard took charge in a way that only Shepard could. My clone followed as a semi humanoid insectoid blur, while his people moved through the street to the hidden node with a military precision that my team would never be able to match. Despite my assurances, angles where checked, fields of fire monitored while bodies moved in tandem to each other that left absolutely no holes in coverage. Jacob fell easily into it, his prior military experience showing strongly while even Lawson managed to kept step without being told. Garrus and Liara moved with Shepard as if they were extensions of him.

As mass accelerated rounds rippled through the air, I realized you couldn't even call it a fight. The Collectors that came for them were dead before they even realized there was opposition. They would have been dead even without my bugs forming little targets over their flying bodies.

The first rush of my swarm had dropped a blanket of ground bugs over our enemies. Through those bugs I learned what my new additions, as well as how more familiar bugs, worked against our new foes. Sadly, not as well as I had hoped. Most people I've fought freaked out when my bugs crawled over them. Double so when they're biting like these were. Not so much the Collectors. While I managed to get them to swat at my crawlies a bit, it wasn't near as much as I was used to, or hoped for.

To my left, Uber back flipped to avoid small arms fire from a Collector. Seemingly knowing what Uber was going to do, Leet rushed under him letting his superior barriers absorb the round Uber couldn't before tearing loose with his shotgun. To my right, Gunny smashed the butt of his rifle into another, caving in its head. I directed my swarm to provide more cover for us even as I fired twice more before reloading my pistol. The three we downed were quickly replaced by four more landing well back before rushing to join the line.

In that first exchange with my swarm I learned several things. One, Collectors didn't have any real soft tissue targets for my bugs to attack. Their armor, if that was even what it was, was completely insular which took out a lot of options. Two, they didn't feel pain the way most people did. For them, my bugs were more of a nuisance than anything else. Lastly, they didn't fight or even move like anything I'd ever fought before. If we were on Bet, I'd have given them a slight brute rating for how they tanked my bugs alone. While they moved from cover to cover and mimed using their weapons in a way that was familiar, there just seemed to be something _off_ about them in total.

Through my swarm I noted Shepard rolling to the side and behind the cover of an air car while his squad opened up on a new wave. The area they were in had way too many obstructions so I organized my bugs that weren't busy doing other tasks to create bug arrows that pointed at where the Collectors were trying to hide.

Beside me Gunny's rifle roared with all the rage of a wounded bear. The man himself laid an almost constant stream of death into anything foolish enough to peek above cover, or was too slow to find it. Uber was doing the same with his own assault rifle while Leet was more selective; firing in more controlled bursts with his SMG now. Assisting one of us, before moving to a different target we were firing at.

Where the guys moved from cover to cover to advance, I moved through the open using my swarm to obscure me. Bug clones formed or broke apart all around us creating the illusion that I was teleporting around the battlefield further confusing our enemies. Half the time the Collectors wasted time shooting those phantoms, which was the intent as well as our edge over the sheer numbers they utilized against us. It was also thanks to my bugs, I knew exactly where every rifle was pointed, and moved to keep myself out of those constantly shifting lines while also adding my own weapons fire into the chaos. Despite the ever increasing reinforcements we were making good time and thanks to our combined tactics, the guys only had to stay in cover long enough for overloaded shield emitters to recharge before they were back in the thick of it, dealing death as if we were handing out candy on Halloween Night.

Meanwhile in the sky above the colony; my flying bugs engaged the Collector controlled ones.

The Collector bugs were easily about the three times the size of a typical earth wasp and built similarly. The only real difference was how thick the body was, which alone clued me into their unnatural origin. Nature didn't evolve bugs like that, something I was all too familiar with. At least, I'd never come across anything like that, till now. They also moved wrong; seemingly side to side while gaining altitude or dropping unexpectedly in such a way that made no sense to me. It did explain why it took so long for them to reach us. I lost innumerable bugs to them, feeling my bugs suddenly just vanish from my consciousness as they were disabled. Not killed but gone just the same. It might have spooked me if I didn't have twenty to one odds in my favor.

Garrus's rifle barked out a steady cadence of ruin. Each shot hitting with an accuracy that was almost unbelievable with a sniper rifle while on the move. Jacob and Miranda fought side by side, and back to back at one point showing neither were strangers to working together while often playing off Liara's powered contributions. But that was nothing compared to Shepard.

He was in his element. Gone was the hesitation, uncertainty, doubt, worry and other convoluted emotional baggage his resurrection and meeting us fostered on him. Only the Hero of the Blitz remained.

Only the Butcher of Torfan.

Shepard stalked through the battlefield like a man walking through his house. Where his rifle moved, something died in a rain of blood. Where he gestured, biotic fields struck with enough force that bones didn't break so much as _shattered._ He was tossing around so much dark energy I could barely keep my swarms in play. His squad wasn't going against nearly the numbers we were, but he was responsible for half of those killed. At the rate they were moving, they were easily going to reach the node before we managed to breach the Annex.

In the air above us, I changed tactics. Instead of various flyers trying to out sting them, I formed them into three bug arrow formations. I sent these against each single Collector bug having them barrel roll, juke, and strafe in ways that put their wings at a disadvantage. Those disadvantages wings, my bugs ravaged. Bugs fell in an insect rain everywhere while I grouped more bugs -beetles, wasps and bees mostly- to gouge or stab them as they fell. With them disabled, I had an easier time killing them. By the time the Collector's bugs hit the ground, they were just as dead as their masters we were shooting.

Leet swapped weapons; putting away his SMG, and pulling his Falcon. My swarm instantly opened up creating shifting pockets of openness that was just as quickly filled with explosions before I re-flooded the area; only to repeat the process where he aimed next. Fresh reinforcements had brought us a lot closer to the Collector line we'd been pushing so hard against forcing Gunny to also swap out weapons as well. For him, a shotgun. Its booming cadence interspaced with Uber's as he also switched out for his. Those unlucky few they tore into that survived, I finished with precision shots as yet even more Collectors arrived on foot from our right flank. I mobbed them in silk streaming spiders born by local beetles to try and wrap them up. Slow work, and these Collectors were pretty strong, so I wasn't holding out hope my tactic would do more than delay them.

Shepard's team finally arrived. With them not moving I was able to fully reform my clone.

" _You have three minutes before the next inbound Collectors get here."_

Shepard nodded his head to me as he turned to Miranda. " _Get it done."_

" _Of course, Shepard."_

My butterflies fluttering in a mini swarm broke off as Miranda knelt; hands brushing aside the thin layer of dirt that hid the access hatch. Once it was opened revealing the tunnel leading downward, my bug clone dissolved into a mass of speeding bugs. I directed them inside ignoring the squawk of protest from Miranda as they passed around her. Before she could even fully regained her feet in a bid to move away, my bug clone had already returned and reformed.

" _Clear."_

Miranda frowned at me. Bugs she didn't know I had on her felt her shudder but I ignored it. It wasn't like it was an uncommon reaction to my clones. Garrus voiced what I was sure was the common thought as Miranda started climbing down, eyeing my clone the entire way until her head disappeared below.

" _You know, when we were fighting together on Lazarus Station, you didn't mention you could do anything like… this."_

Gunfire from Leet dropped another Collector letting us rush forward to occupy the cover offered by an overturned air car. I nodded to Gunny to suppress as Uber set himself on the other side with his sniper rifle to thin the herd.

" _Not enough bugs and I wasn't expecting the mechs to activate the second we stepped foot on the station. Besides, you didn't ask."_

With an over hand toss by both Leet and I, deployed combat drones over our cover and inside the enemy ranks. Using the distraction, Uber and Gunny broke cover for a better position while Leet and I replaced them at either ends of the air car.

" _Would you have told me if I had asked if you were holding back?"_ Garrus asked.

Leet laughed when his drone exploded sending four Collectors to the ground. I turned from the carnage to the laughing cape, "When did you design that option and why doesn't mine do that?"

"Last night, and you told me off the last time I tinkered with your omni tool!"

"Just because I don't want my omni tool exploding, doesn't mean I don't want exploding combat drones!"

" _No."_

My heart hammered in my chest as reloaded my shotgun, breaking cover for the next run. Even as we continued to press forward to the Security Annex, I was copying strategies that were proving to work; everywhere else. With so many bugs at my disposal I didn't need to worry losing them. As such, I attacked at every front I could reach, which incidentally meant I was everywhere, not just covering us or Shepard's team.

Shepard's helmet continued to stare at my clone but I had no idea what he was thinking. Not in that armor, part of its design was to mask physical tells. The others were easier, though I continued trying to ignore them since they were reaction pretty much the same way most people did when faced with certain aspects of my power.

"Man, how many of these motherfuckers do we have to kill before they pack up their shit and go home?" Uber yelled as another wave of three arrived.

Liara asked, _"Any other tricks up your sleeve?"_

Gunny quickly swapped out his shotgun for his rifle; raining a barrage that cut two Collectors in half. "As many as it takes! How much further to the Annex, Matriarch?"

 _"Yes."_

"Not far now and Shepard's at the node. We should have mech support soon," I answered, slightly winded as I dove to my right to avoid two Collectors that had me sighted. "Leet, the next set is larger than the last few; we need to cut them down before they dig in any more than they already have!"

 _"Care to share with the rest of the class?"_ Jacob jokingly inquired.

"Oh, I got you're boom!" the tinker shouted back; swapping his rifle for his heavy.

 _"We don't have that kind of time at the moment and things are heating up on our end."_ At the raised eyebrow from the easy going man I added, _"Wait for it. You'll see."_

The Collectors I found who weren't actively trying to kill us found themselves not so much fighting multiple fronts of attack, as wandering through a mosh pit of bugs. The only difference was, I wasn't trying to avoid contact with them, I was seeking it. Still learning what worked and what didn't and incapacitating as many as I could before they became an issue. One of my winning tactics involved their eyes; they were very poorly protected. And surprisingly soft compared to how they looked. I honestly expected more resistance to my bug's mandibles than I was getting.

It still wasn't enough to do more than slow them as we finally turned the corner that let us physically see our destination. Then Leet cut loose with the Cain. I didn't even try to pull my bugs back; they never would have made it anyways. The massive explosion ripped everything before us to atoms. Two air cars were sent flying, Collectors vanished in the destructive annihilation Leet unleashed, while the carefully maintained decorative trees and grass flash burned to ashes.

 _"Damn,"_ Jacob's grunted as every eye turned to the flash and reverberating thunder Leet's attack unleashed. I would have smiled but my clone couldn't. _"Do I even want to know what the hell that was?"_

Uber and Gunny cheered; Leet laughed. I did neither.

" _How is your squad doing?"_ Shepard asked.

I cursed as twenty more Collectors streamed into the street to replace the fallen through various alleys and streets that intersected here.

" _We're alive."_

I flooded the area in fresh bugs, rushing forward to meet them before they found cover to bunker down behind.

" _Just 'alive'?"_

"Uber cover the right! Leet get a turret or a drone out there to suppress that left side!" I ordered as I sent out another drone of my own to try to keep the enemy from cutting us off from the Annex.

" _Alive and pressing forward. High expectations only lead to disappointment. We like to keep things attainable. If we're alive, that means either the enemy isn't or we're still in a position to change that. I can live with both."_

"Gunny, take out that fucker with the heavy laser beam before he ruins all the good cover!"

" _Harsh way to look at things,"_ Jacob dryly stated through his chuckle. " _Can't say I disagree with it though."_

"You got it!" Gunny barked, sending enough rounds to noticeably chew up the top of the cover that Collector dove behind.

" _You get used to it."_

Uber sprayed the Collector to my right while I ducked under the fire of a different one. No matter what I did, how many we, or my bugs downed, there was always more coming. For every one we killed, three started flying our way to take its place. We were so close to the Annex that it wouldn't take but a quick rush to get us inside, but the sheer numbers opposed to us were keeping us bogged down and unable to do it. At the moment all four of us had been forced to cover creating a stalemate that was eventually going to mean our ruin if we didn't find a way to break it.

Miranda reached the bottom and opened a panel that was obviously not supposed to be there. Through my bug clone hidden just out of sight, I watched as she accessed the node her operative secreted here. Bug senses were the worst for dealing with holographic interfaces so I had no idea what she was doing except from what I could read from her body's responses as she worked. I felt her muscles tense, a slight tilt of her head as she paused; looked upward and then returned to her work. Little things that most people took for granted but contained a wealth of information; if you knew how to read it. After a moment more to manipulate the interface, Miranda slowly closed the panel.

" _A tough decision."_

As I dropped another Collector with my rifle, I turned sensing another eight coming our way. I sent some of the bigger bugs carrying spiders to them. Let's see how well they flew with wings bound in silk. If that didn't work, I had a few other ideas that might.

Lawson spun around, eyes widening at seeing my bug clone advance to the edge of the shaft of light from above. I noticed her side arm in her hand lower while bugs on her felt her shudder at how my bugs sounded inside the small confines around us.

" _So many of your problems can be solved, right here, right now."_

I quickly activated my omni tool firing a spread into our enemy's entrenched position; watching as the cluster of biotic grenades sent five flying backward. Three fresh troops replaced them; four more arrived from a side street about fifty yards away.

" _I have no idea what you are talking about."_

"Matriarch, let me cut loose on these pricks. I can open us a path!" Uber shouted as I sighted my next target.

" _Yes. You do. You know exactly what I am talking about."_

"Not yet, there's too many, Uber. We need to cut their numbers down a bit more for that!"

Miranda frowned momentarily before she sneered, " _I don't know what you technology you've implanted into yourself to do what you are doing, but just because you can utilize this bizarre control you have over insects doesn't mean you are any judge of this situation, much less me."_

"Hey Leet," Gunny shouted from behind the wall that was being shot up. "I don't suppose you have another one of those booms, eh amigo?"

" _You are the last person to talk about augments, Miranda Lawson."_ I spoke through my bugs. " _Like you, I didn't have a choice about my… upgrades. But we weren't talking about that, were we?"_

Leet shook his head, which I knew Gunny wasn't able to see from his position. "I wish! Do you know what I would have to do to make that thing do that twice without it blowing up in my face?"

Miranda's eyes narrowed; posture stiffening as I stepped my clone further into the light. " _Without those mechs, we both know my team is as good as dead. You don't need my bug sense to know that. Even I can hear the explosions generated by my squad from here. Even our small arms fire is clearly audible, though it's not as consuming as it is from where I am standing. Figuratively speaking."_

"Er, no?" Gunny answered before a break in the enemy fire Uber bought him let the ex-marine return some of his own.

" _I activated the damn mechs!"_

"Fuck," Leet cursed. "I don't either! I don't suppose you do, Matriarch?"

" _I know. My bugs are tracking each and every one right now."_

"Kinda busy here, Leet. Instead of talking about something we can't do anything about, maybe you could help kill these assholes with the rest of us?"

" _Then why are you questioning me?"_

"Fine fine, but just remember, you didn't want me building it in the first place and right now I _know_ you're wishing I made two!"

" _Not questioning; merely surprised."_ I replied. " _I expected you to delay, to tell Shepard it was going to take you a while hoping the Collectors would kill us for you. Whatever your reason, thank you. I'm not often wrong about villains, but I'm glad to be wrong about you. I can overlook a lot for someone who helps keep my friends alive."_

"Mechs are live!" I yelled to my team.

Uber replied first, pretty much voicing what we were all thinking. "About fucking time!"

"I still want some to tinker with," Leet added.

I rolled my eyes at his grumble while diving into cover so my barriers could recharge. "We can talk about that later…"

"Stifle not the tinkers!" Leet cut me off, while also cutting a Collector in half with some kind of six inche wide exploding frisbee of light. "Besides, Matriarch, I think I've earned me some minions of darkness. I promise they won't self-replicate!"

His muttered 'much' was almost lost to the din of our renewed offense despite the clarity from our comms. I couldn't help but laugh giddily as the pressure around us noticeably eased up. "Alight! Just give me a few days to see what I can do."

"Woot!"

All through the colony, mechs unpacked. Scores of man sized LOKIs, dozens of dog sized FENRIS, and even the eight YMIR mechs unfolded from their standby box configurations to rise to their full heights. Steam burst from their robotic forms, weapon systems activated, while the colonies mechanical minions processed the situation around them in seconds. Collectors who witnessed the event taking place turned in surprise but were under fire long before they could organize against them. Even as the four of us broke cover taking advantage of the moment, I adjusted my swarm to compensate for the new variable. I used my swamping trick to avoid missile explosions, thinned my swarm in other areas to help the mechs find targets while thickening it in others obscuring flanks and rears.

As Miranda climbed out of the hidden tunnel, I turned my clone's head to Shepard. " _The mechs have thrown them into confusion and forced them to stop loading colonists. They have also managed to finish a lot that I disabled. You won't get a better chance to hit Admin…"_

I spun around. Two massive _something's_ were flying our way. Whatever they were was fully enveloped in a dark energy barrier that easily kept my bugs at bay while they barreled through unconcerned. It wasn't until they topped over the buildings behind us allowing me to see them with my eyes that I realized what was going on.

" _Hebert!?"_ Shepard shouted.

"Go, get moving! We're taking the Annex. _NOW_!"

Too far from me to even consider them viable for the situation, I heard Liara ask, " _Taylor, your… these bugs are acting agitated, what is going on?"_

Even as the two hulking monstrosities flew closer, Gunny stepped up to lead our rush. All of us switching to close end weapons while activating tech armors to hopefully help us in our blitz. By the time we crossed half the remaining distance, the brutish affronts to nature were here. Each roughly the size of a shipping container looking like a squat hybrid between a beetle and crab. Each enveloped in a sphere of dark energy so destructive my bugs died merely coming into contact with it. While that was bad, the worst thing I noticed was that each of them carried two… things. They appeared to be some kind of mutated or hodgepodge half giant that could have come from Bonesaw's workshop had we been on Bet.

At least, I thought that was the worst thing, but that changed the second the beetlecrabs deployed the brutes. A Collector stumbled before suddenly going ridged; rising slightly. The air around it flared; golden flames burned along it's carapace like veins. Every bug I had within six feet of it died in the eruption that released it to fall back to its feet.

" **ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL.** "

 _Harbinger._

Gunny was the first to make the Annex. Thankfully, the door wasn't locked and opened as he half fell inside while dodge weapons fire. He immediately posted himself there covering the rest of us with his rifle. Leet was only steps behind him which left Uber and me the farthest out; cut off as the Collectors aggressively counter attacked.

I hadn't realized I spoke through my bugs until I heard Shepard ask, " _What is Harbinger? What the hell is going on Hebert?"_

"Leet, get those guns activated! Gunny, focus on cutting down every Collector you see! Uber, cover the guys." I ordered as I tried to process everything that was flashing through my mind as I watched Harbinger casually walk toward us; shrugging off weapons fire like rain water.

" _Harbinger, is the Reaper directing the Collectors."_ I informed Shepard through my clone while directing my swarm and moving myself to intercept. The beetlecrabs flew away, probably to get more the brute things. Whatever they were, they were slow which meant we had only one shot to put things back in our favor before they closed enough to do, whatever the hell they could do.

Uber yelled back even has he habitually moved to obey, "What the fuck are you doing, Matriarch?"

Shepard wasn't the only one to shout, " _There's a fucking REAPER, here!?"_

" **Human; viable possibility, impressive genetic malleability**."

" _...In a manner of speaking."_


	23. Blue on Black 6

**Blue on Black Story Arc: 4.6**

I backpedaled ejecting the spent heat sink; barely paying attention to it as it kicked from my rifle like an ember popping loose from a campfire. Harbinger's steady advance really brought home just how ineffective my attack was, which left me undecided if I should even bother reloading at all. While normal Collectors didn't appear to have barriers, Harbinger did and they were better than anything we'd ever come against.

 _Another thing to add to the list…._

 **"Relinquish your form to us."**

"I'm not that kind of girl. If you want my 'form', you're going to have to come and take it." I half snarled half growled to myself as I moved to a better position that kept Harbinger at a distance, while also keeping out of any line of fire from other threats. All around me insects swirled thickly trailing barely detectable lines of drag line silk. I had thousands of spiders spinning silk but with so many targets I might as well have none at all.

 _Not that any of that would do a damn bit of good against Harbinger_ , I thought grimly as I tried to figure out how to deal with the Reaper in Collector form.

Uber burst through the battlefield; his armor trailing flames as used his body as a battering ram. Before I even finished my curse, Harbinger surprised me by moving with a speed that would have been unbelievable if I'd never fought a speeder before. It's body half spun letting the Reaper slam its elbow into Uber's back. Even from where I was standing I heard the impact. Uber immediately slammed into the ground, digging a furrow five feet along the ground before he came to a stop.

"Uber!"

 **"Foolish. We are the Harbinger of your perfection. You will submit."**

Harbinger reared back before throwing some sort of golden energy ball at Uber. My eyes widened as I realized Uber must have been stunned and wasn't going to get out of the way in time. Cursing inward, I condensed my swarm.

Between Uber and the energy ball, my bug clone quickly formed. Legs wide, arms extended along with two wings spread out completely blocking Uber from view. Useful in situations like this, or if you wanted to freak out some low tier gangbanger into making a run for it. Harbinger wasn't freaked out, but that wasn't my intention. I got want I wanted when his attack exploded, my clone obliterated seconds after it formed. It cost me thousands of bugs, but was more than worth it as what splash there was washed over Uber.

Within my helmet, I licked my lips. I knew that taste. Dark energy. It was completely different than any way Sebastian ever did it, but there was no doubt to my mind that Harbinger's attack was some kind of directed biotic attack. _Interesting...and very worrying._

As if the Reaper knew I summoned the clone, it turned it's triangular head toward me. Burning eyes staring at me leaving me in no doubt I had it's full attention now. Our little staring contest only lasted a moment before Harbinger's body was unexpectedly assaulted from a different direction.

Leet stood with both arms pointed at Harbinger. The armor around his forearms spun like the barrels of the Bad Juju, but instead of mass accelerated round flying forth, Leet was firing lasers. The lances of searing light tore through Harbinger cutting its body into smoking ribbons.

I sighed, searching the battlefield while leaping into cover to avoid small arms fire. Shield emitter alarms chiming in my ear as I got my breath back. Thankfully they only needed a few seconds to recharge I turned to the Annex, and incidentally where two of my friends were. They didn't know, didn't understand what we were dealing with. Hell, I didn't fully understand yet.

I formed a clone next to the tinker. " _Leet; the_ _ **guns**_ _."_

"If you fucking think I was going to let him…"

" _Guns,_ _ **now.**_ " My clone interrupted as I pointed a bug arm to where another Collector staggered before rising into the air. " _You cannot kill Harbinger. He will just take over another Collector."_

 **"Your attack is an insult."**

" _We need to drive off the ship. Go. I will watch Uber's back."_

Leet hesitated, his indecision clear before he cursed running back into the Security Annex. "Motherfucking body jumpers..."

I thickened my swarm around Gunny and Uber who thankfully regained his feet; shaking his head as he got his bearings. The little interlude of Leet killing Harbinger's body did come with an unexpected side effect. That of throwing the other Collectors for a loop. Namely they all staggered. Feedback? Maybe but it was so subtle I couldn't tell, even with my bugs running amok everywhere and on every one of them. That slight distraction did give me an idea, assuming I could pull it off. Sensing through the swarm the big brute things as they continued to advance I realized the other Collectors had taken to mostly focusing on trying to retake the Annex and ignoring me.

Except for Harbinger. It sauntered through my swarm directly for me.

 **"This delay is pointless. We are innumerable."**

"Yeah, starting to get that feeling myself..." I mumbled as I formed a clone next to Gunny and another next to Uber. This was a stupid plan, but it had the least risk to the guys. Especially with more Collectors coming. And they were coming from everywhere. Since Harbinger showed up, I'd noticed that for every one we killed, two instantly began flying toward us. The same was true for every one the my bugs disabled in the air. While each downed Collector eased up our situation here, the constant increase in numbers, and the enemies never ending supply of troops was going to quickly get to the point we couldn't handle. Worse, my bugs were becoming less and less effective as they adapted to my tactics. But the really bad part was that those giant beetlecrab things were coming back. I had a feeling they weren't doing so empty handed.

" _Uber, take out the brutes. I'll handle Harbinger."_

"Da' fuck?"

" ** _Do it_**."

I ruled out a hive mind earlier, but maybe I was too hasty. There was something weird about these Collectors, and not just that Harbinger could use them to create personal avatars. Some kind of telepathic link? I knew they were communicating somehow so telepathy made the most sense to me since I'd yet to hear anything like intelligent speech from any Collector except for Harbinger.

I took a read of our situation through my bugs as I tried to think of a better way, and came up empty. While the other Collectors seemed to ignore me, I stepped away from my cover to test my theory. I tensed, waiting for the bullets that didn't come. I slowly let out my held breath, looked like Harbinger did decide he'd deal with me personally.

I could work with that.

" _Gunny, Leet needs time to trick the servers into activating the guns. Hold the Annex."_

"But what about you…"

" _Hold the Annex_ _ **at any cost**_ _, Gunny."_

Stupid or not, this was the best plan I had. I readied myself for my next move. "...but then again, when have I ever let a little thing like _odds_ stop me?"

Bugs flew everywhere attacking as best as they could, delaying some, blinding others while dropping several more out of the sky forcing them to run here on foot. Stalling; it was all I had and I knew it. Too many Collectors, too few of us. Even Sebastian couldn't win against these odds. Shepard's team was running full pelt for Admin, obviously trying to do the same thing as us. Double up, that was why I decided to split us into teams. It would better our chances, or so I thought at the time. Thing was, I didn't have to win. I just had to keep things like this until the guns got working. As far as bad plans went, it could have been worse.

 **"You are shortsighted. Your interference has ended."**

I rushed forward; I wasn't going to get any more prepared than I was at the moment. Harbinger seemed to anticipate my move as he instantly hurled another of those dark energy balls at me.

I smiled.

The bugs on my body continued forward the moment my body jerked back, creating an echo similar to Leviathan's so long ago. Only mine was made of bugs. I let the clone ride forward for half a heartbeat before following it. It was only as the clone swelled that it was even noticeable, and that only happened seconds before they connected with Harbingers attack. Like before, it exploded instantly killing thousands of bugs as well as shaking the ground. Not that I felt it, I was already refilling the area with more even as I leaped at Harbinger, my omni blade forming around my arm as I swung burying two feet of flash forged silicon-carbide into the Reaper.

 _Good, your barriers_ do _work like ours; designed to stop mass accelerated rounds, but not physical attacks…_ As I watched the light vanish from the Harbinger's glowing eyes, I felt it again. Hesitation in the other Collectors, but it wasn't feedback. Was it confusion? Some kind of lag maybe? I still couldn't tell but, damn it, I needed every edge I could get!

I relaxed my focus, searching for Harbinger while checking in on the guys. One of the brutes fell to Uber, Gunny was holding the line at the Annex, while Leet knelt at the console doing his best to hack the system. Judging by his cursing, he wasn't having an easy time with it. Probably because he kept looking away from the terminal interface, to Gunny or looking out the window to Uber or me. I easily found Harbinger, already taking over another Collector, but it wasn't near me this time. It was near Uber.

"Yeah, bad idea asshole." My arm was already reconfiguring as I raised it. "I'm not done with you yet."

The round from my tinker cannon bent reality outward, before collapsing in on itself obliterating Harbinger's legs completely. It didn't mind. It didn't even seem to flinch, and that was the eerie thing about it. How little it seemed to _care._ It was alien, in a way that even actual aliens couldn't compare to. Just… _eerie_. But I didn't let it slow me down. I didn't give the creature even a moment to recover.

My second caused his head to pop in a pulped rain. Before his carcass hit the ground, my artificial arm was back to normal letting me pull my pistol to kill three normal Collectors that were still near Uber. I ignored the ringing alarms as well as the super-heated steam which gushed from my arm. While my weapons were useless against the body jumping Reaper, they were still very effective against his puppets.

 _Too bad Leet never figured out the power issues with the Firefly._ I couldn't help but think to myself while searching for Harbinger. I know I made a deal about even having the damn thing reinstalled but, right now I would have kissed Leet for even a handful more rounds for it since it was able to bypass the things barriers. At the moment I was surviving, barely, and our normal weapons just weren't cutting it.

It didn't take me long to find the next body it jumped into, this time thankfully closer to me than the guys. _Alright, so we can half ass direct where you are going to appear. That's good, I guess. Not as good as having a way to stop you from being here at all but… fuck it. Well, I suppose the question now is, do you only body jump into undamaged Collectors on purpose, or do you not have a choice..._

I stepped to the side to avoid weapons fire from one Collector only to duck to avoid fire from another while keeping my focus on the Harbinger. This time I let him finish powering up his new body. It gave me time to send tech attacks and weapons fire into the other Collectors in the area. Overloads, neural shocks, cryo's and a few incinerates jumped from both my omni tools as I tried to hit as many Collectors as I could to test my new theory. We needed an edge, something, _anything,_ that would let us contain him.

 **"This form is irrelevant. We do not die."**

I reinforced my swarm cover with fresh bugs that finally arrived. "Bet it still hurts like hell though."

Leet still struggled in the Annex. Gunny was keeping the Collectors at bay for the moment, while Shepard's team had just breached Admin. Uber had taken a few hits from the brutes in the short time he'd been tangling with them. One of them even cracked the face-plate on his helmet. That or it happened when Harbinger plowed him, I wasn't sure. As much as I wanted to physically help him, I didn't. We couldn't let Harbinger run unchecked. I just had to hope he was strong enough to keep cutting them down until I figured something out. Hopefully before his luck changed. I pushed the knowledge of how close those giant beetlecrabs were to the back of my mind, instead returning my focus to Harbinger.

 **"Pain is an illusion. Destroying this body gains you nothing. We are limitless."**

This time when Harbinger attacked he didn't just throw one golden ball, but three. One toward Uber's back, one at Gunny and another at me. Each one twice the size of any he'd thrown prior. I had to double the bug count in my clones to have enough biomass to trigger their detonations after my first attempts failed.

The ground shook disrupting my footing. Harbinger seemed to have anticipated it as wings sprouted from his back, catapulting the Reaper. I regained my footing just in time for his hideous claw to snatch out, grappling my arm. I struggled in a vain attempt to break the hold as its meaty, sharp grip tightened around my through. Dread began to creep up my spine when my feet left the unsteady ground.

" **Human. Unique biotic control. Preexisting cybernetic augmentation displays viable technical possibilities. You will become one with us."**

Harbingers grip sealed my airway, even though my armor while he lifted me off the ground as if I weighed nothing. Though the pain and lack of oxygen I vaguely heard the sound of metals bending, grinding as the Reaper crushed my arm.

"N-no t-thanks…" I choked as I struggled to get free. "Y-ou're not re-eally m-y ty-pe…"

Options plummeted quicker as my need for air rose. I'd held them back not having nearly enough to work with despite the fact they bred like no bug I'd ever encountered before. With their regeneration capabilities though, they required an insane amount of food to upkeep so I only made enough for an emergency.

This qualified.

I played my trump card. From every crevice of my armor erupted with the sounds of angry wings unique to those my other bugs generated. It was droning warble, similar to a cicada but resonating in a way that sent a shiver down even my spine. Hundreds of flying scorpion wasps exploded outward and instantly attacked the thing holding me. The Asird's I picked up from Tuchanka attacked the Reaper in every way I could contrive. Harbinger stumbled backward as they tore into it. Poisoned tails pierced injecting it's acid like venom into the Reaper. Claws moved in a blur digging and burrowing into the hard plated armor as if it were merely soft dirt. Others tore into Harbingers eyes, tearing through the softer tissue like butter as they headed deeper into the Collector's body.

Harbinger stumbled back, head rocking sharply trying to dislodge my feasting minions. It was just enough to get him to lose his balance allowing me to get my own feet back on the ground. Still partially caught in the Reaper's grasp, I fought back my fear, pushing it completely into my bugs. Ignored my sweat slicked brow, short breath and burning lungs. Ignored the pain in my body, unleashing my defiance.

I pulled my knife; lunging forward burying it into the side of his head. The fingers holding me instantly slackened allowing me to finally draw in a hard won breath of air. Snarling, I kicked hard, throwing Harbinger's dying body from me, choking and sputtering as I fell to my knees as my weakened legs refused to support me.

 **"Assuming control of this form."**

I looked up, seeing Harbinger striding toward me yet again. One of the eyes in the body he jumped into was dim, which answered an earlier thought. I mobbed him in my Asrids as well as other bugs to buy me time. Time I used to hit the manual release in my shoulder; disconnecting my arm. It was dead weight now. Even if that dead weight represented over half my options.

 _Time for what? For him to jump into another body? Then what? Kill him again? He'll just take another. Are you going to kill each and every one of hundreds that are roaming around this stupid colony? There's no winning against this thing..._

Eye's closed, I growled. No. I beat Coil; I beat him at his own game. I bested the Endbringer Leviathan. I overcame Sebastian's death. Not even _Nikos_ was able to keep me on my knees. I opened my eyes, staring at the flailing Reaper. I wasn't going out like this, but if this was it, I wasn't going alone. Even if that just meant killing a few more of Harbinger's bodies. Hopefully that would buy enough time for Leet to get the guns working. Even if it was just the guys who made it through this, that would be enough for me.

By the time I got to my feet, Harbinger had abandoned the body in front of me, taking another to my left. I lunged at it, stabbing it with my knife, my deadliest bugs adding their own mandibles and poison to the onslaught.

 **"This shell is only a vehicle."**

Before I could even blink, Harbingers newest incarnation was already on me. An upside down burning tree, side of a building, the ground, bugs and other things I couldn't identify spun sickeningly around me before I came to an abrupt stop. I groaned, dizzy and trying to get to my feet. I was still stunned when Harbinger picked me back up again.

" **You have failed. Prepare for ascendance."**

The need for air, my confusion, even the pain that wracked my body, none of it mattered when I felt the ghostly touch of the Reaper in my mind, invading my thoughts, trying to worm its way into my memories.

I screamed.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

 _At any cost…_

Gunny swallowed the bile creeping up within him; ejecting the thermal clip to slam a fresh one back in with more force than was necessary. He saw it happen, tried to stop it but that thing, that Harbinger, just shrugged off the rounds he sent at it. Matriarch's screech was short thanks to Uber, but the chills it sent down Gunny's spine didn't go away when she stopped.

Leet abandoned his post at the terminal, his intention clear. The ex-marine snarled as he grabbed the tinker by his armor, "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Dude, we need to get out there!"

Still snarling, Gunny shoved the younger man back toward the terminal; hard enough to make him fall on his ass. "Matriarch said to get the guns working. That is what you have to do, now get to work."

"Man, didn't you fucking _hear_ her?" Leet asked. His voice easily carrying the confusion and hurt that Gunny was keeping him out of the fight. "That's our _friend_ out there!"

"Don't you think _I_ know that?" Gunny shouted back. "What use is it going to be to run out there and save her only for us to get overrun and killed? We're no good to her dead! She said to get those guns working, no matter what. _That_ is what you are going to do. _That_ is the only way we can help her, and the quicker you get it done, the faster we can get out there and make these assholes pay. Now either you're going to do what she said, or I'm going to fucking _make_ you!"

Gunny turned away from the stunned cape, bringing the rifle back to his shoulder. A quick tap on the side panel caused the weapon to hum dangerously as he pulled the trigger with every bit of self-loathing he had. The barrel super-heated instantly, steam leaking from the casing as the already considerable rate of fire _tripled._ Mass accelerated rounds scythed through the enemy mercilessly. Every few seconds Gunny swapped out thermals as he burned through his ammunition without a care.

 _How's that feel? Want a bit more? You want a little too, eh? Come get some... Plenty more where that came from you soulless son's of..._

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Matriarch's scream ripped through the battlefield like Leviathan's tidal waves once ripped the Bay. Not just because it was carried through every bug in the vicinity, but because of the note of pure heartbreaking terror it carried.

Matriarch didn't scream. She didn't scream when Bakuda blew off her arm. She didn't scream when Aryes shot her. Matriarch didn't even scream when she underwent surgery for the cybernetics she needed grafted. Not once in all the years they ran together, had he ever heard her scream like that. There was only one time Uber ever heard anything even close to the sound being ripped from her, and that was right after she couldn't bring herself to assassinate Armsmaster. There was only one thing that ever got that kind of response from her, and pain was never a contender for the short list.

Uber saw red.

He dove to his left avoiding the swinging arm of the creature in front of him. His armor reconfiguring even as he regained his feet; flames bursting outward sending him roaring through the battlefield. His shoulder impacted the flaming Collector with the force of a Mack truck barreling into a wall at full speed; freeing Matriarch's body to fall in a heap while his target crashed into the wall of the Annex with enough force to indent the surface.

Turning away from the lifeless husk, Uber took in the still form of Matriarch. His body shook in rage even as his gut clenched seeing her unmoving.

Broken.

He vowed to Renegade to look after her. Swore it back when they buried him on Bet. He'd only failed once to keep that promise and that day he told himself it would _never_ happen again. The way her bugs were acting told him they were acting on the last directions she gave them; which only meant she was still alive. Uber knew the difference between when she personally directed them and when she... couldn't.

He failed, his promise as broken as the body of his friend on the ground.

Uber tore his broken helmet off, uncaring where it ended up. The cracked visor was only slowing him down. Blood blinding his left eye which bothered him moments ago was completely forgotten. An inarticulate animalistic scream tore from him as his armor catapulted him toward the closest Collector; twin plasma blades extending four feet from each of his hands.

" **Assuming…"**

Three swipes ended the aliens existence; it's body didn't even hit the ground before Uber rocketed off again. Anything coming within ten feet of his fallen friend quickly found itself on the receiving end of a stab, slash, or propelled shoulder charge. He didn't count his kills. Didn't care if it was a regular Collector or one of those powered up ones; he barely even noticed the distinction. All he saw was red. When the last of the brutes he was fighting earlier stepped into his self-imposed arena, he attacked it with the same ferocity as the others.

 _I'm going to kill every last one of you motherfuckers. And when your friends get here, I'm going to kill them too. Every. Last. Mother. Fucking._ One of you!

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

"Move move move!" Shepard commanded. Mass effect fields he directed sent another Collector smashing into a wall. The two huge flying biotic beetles were finally dead, as was the four human abominations they carried. His squad never lost step as they pressed their rush towards the Security Annex.

Two more dropped in tandem to the barks from Garrus's rifle. Liara created a singularity blocking off another wave while mechs rampaged everywhere. Down the street to their right, a pair of older YMIR's marched spewing gatling fire into targets Shepard couldn't see. Behind them, LOKI's marched in formation sweeping through a different street. Shepard's team passed all of it in a blur as they trail-blazed their own route.

Shepard growled to himself, utilizing his biotics to send another enemy skyward. The heat from his amp was burning the back of his neck telling him he was in danger of a blowout but he continued to push himself. Administration was bust. The enemy seemed to know exactly what they were going to try to do and destroyed all the access terminals. Their only hope to get the guns working now, lay where Hebert's team was. The only problem was, that was also where the enemy was the thickest.

"Lawson, Taylor, move those Collectors up ahead. Liara, block off that alley. Garrus, cover them. We're breaking through!"

A chorus of various confirmations sounded around him as his team moved as he ordered. Shepard brought the rifle up to his shoulder, unleashing his own hell into the enemy ranks. Once the line broke he swapped out his rifle for the shotgun, vanishing in a purplish black streak. His emergence from the translocation was greeted with flying bodies and gunfire. It also brought him right into the mix of the fight around Security.

Shepard took in the firefight at a glance. Baker, Hebert's XO, was utilizing some kind of tech that allowed him to imitate the translocation of a biotic charge. His body flew across the battlefield in a blur, hitting one target before pinballing in a completely different direction to assault another. The military man, Marino he thought, was posted at the doorway into the Annex shredding every moving thing that came too close. All over the courtyard Collectors moved around in a swarm almost as thick as Hebert's bugs. Another twenty arriving from different points. Each scrambling for cover, firing weapons, arriving through alleys or dying.

He didn't see Hebert, which didn't bode well. The insects she somehow controlled still swarmed thickly here, but not as thickly as they did before he heard them scream. Nor did he see the other one, Richardson if he remembered right, but judging by how Marino was posted and by what Liara mentioned of the man, he was probably inside the Annex.

Shepard hefted the heavy shotgun preparing to engage the units closest to his location when one of the newly arrived Collectors staggered before flaring in a golden storm of energy. The effect only lasted a second before it was back on its feet, triangular head and four burning eyes turning right at him.

" **Shepard."**

 _That looked like what Sovereign did to Saren..._ Shepard's lips pulled back in a snarl, "Harbinger."

 **"You escaped us before, Shepard, not again."**

"We'll see about that. This time you don't have a vacuum to kill me. You're going to have to work for it!" Shepard barked, pulling the trigger, feeling the shotgun buck.

The flare of the Reaper's barriers signaled it deflecting the shot. The impact not even staggering the creature as it raised its fist, golden-black flames dancing around it's arm before it thrust it's hand forward unleashing a black flaming sphere. Shepard threw himself into a roll to his right to avoid it, but somehow it tracked him, continuing to close the distance. He changed tactics, preparing to charge into Harbinger when the insects swirling around suddenly condensed forming a figure for the barest of moments before the energy ball exploded. As surprising as detonation was, it was the monotone clicking and buzzing of wings which formed words that stole Shepard's attention.

" _I didn't say we were done with our dance, Harbinger."_

Through the smoke and bugs, _something_ advanced on the Reaper. A strange crunching sound from four thin metallic limbs impacting the ground rivaled the roar of flying insects. It took a moment for Shepard to realize each limb was attached to a suspended body, and not a mech. However, what really shocked him, was the realization that the suspended body, was Hebert.

Whirling around her in a mini tornado was a thick cloud of her insects. It made it hard to see details but those details he could see were enough. Hebert swayed side to side; bonelessly slung to the movement of the mechanical legs. Her prosthetic was missing and her armor looked like she'd taken more than a few hits after her barriers failed. Scorched, ablative plating broken, ballistic cloth she used for her hood torn and ragged. Her helmeted head just as limp as the rest of her body. Shepard couldn't see her face but the damage to her helmet was clearly visible, and more than enough to know she'd been in the thick of a losing fight for a while.

Hebert's bug monotone broke the relative silence while her functionless body continued to advance. " _Did you really think a little thing like paralysis was going to stop me?"_

 **"If we must tear you apart, we will."**

" _Try it. You'd be the first."_

Shepard charged directly into the Reaper, staggering it backward as he shoved his shotgun into its face, pulling the trigger as reality still bent around him. This close, its barriers couldn't defend it against the onslaught of mass accelerated shrapnel. Shepard turned in time to see Harbinger taking control of another Collector but before he could do anything to it, Hebert did.

Skittering forward on her metallic appendages she crossed the distance at a fast pace, using one leg to stab it while it was still engulfed in the golden flames and bringing it to the ground hard. Shepard watched as her body, as if no more than a ragdoll twisted or jerked about to the precise movements of her artificial appendages. Hebert followed up with two more stabs before piercing Harbinger's body with both forefront appendages, rearing back on her remaining legs to rip the thing in half. Halves discarded with no more care than she paid her own suspended body.

For a moment, it was like staring into the galaxy's most fucked up mirror. The way those arms tore Harbinger apart... The uncaring way she pushed the bizarre construct she somehow was controlling brought to mind the thought that struck him earlier when he first laid eyes on her bug avatar. A thought that echoed one he had several days ago when she was standing in the mess after their talk.

Here was someone who understood the same equation he did.

Then reality set back in.

Again the Reaper appeared, and again Shepard fired only to have his shot absorbed by the thing's barriers. Hebert wasted no time in charging it and ripping it apart the way she did the prior one.

" _Barriers are too strong for our weapons. Getting in close takes care of that. Your armor has omni blades. Should be strong enough to survive you charging with them activated as well."_

Shrugging of the surprise of her insect avatar appearance next to him, he raised his arm, activating the tech, watching as the orange/blue blade sprang to life. Shepard smiled ferally. "I can do close. Where are we on the guns?"

" _Leet almost has it. Apparently Hadley's brother did fix the glitch. Leet is having trouble unfixing it but it won't be long now."_

"Outstanding."

Shepard charged the next target, impaling it on both blades. Hebert shadowed him, covering his flanks as they cut a bloody swath through the enemy ranks. Metal legs speared or crushed anything that came within reach while he used his biotics and the omni blades to defeat others. Even as the kill count climbed between them, he couldn't help but think to himself he never fought with anyone like Hebert. Whether it was from fighting alongside his future self, her bugs, or just her instinct for combat, she was always exactly where she needed to be while never where she shouldn't. Even fighting with Garrus and Liara didn't compare to how well they were clicking on the battlefield. Every time Harbinger appeared, they moved in tandem to eliminate it as quickly as they could. By the time the rest of his squad arrived, the two of them had already cut a noticeable dent into the enemy forces.

The sudden booming that was unique to anti-ship cannons reverberated through the air. Shepard didn't need to look upward to see that the majority of those bursts were hammering into the Collector ship. Nor did he need to look to know the ship immediately began lifting off the moment they did. The concussions were more than tell enough and reaffirm his thoughts on the value of the older Phoenix Cannons.

The fight seemed to immediately leave the abandoned Collectors. Most staggered while others fell to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. Shepard pulled back his arm from the most recent Harbinger incarnation. The body fell to the ground, burning eyes staring into his face plate.

 **"This changes nothing, Shepard."**

"I'm just getting started, Harbinger. Soon, I'm going to find where you've hidden yourself, and when I do, I'm going to do to you what I did to Sovereign."

 **"You only delayed the inevitable. We are your genetic destiny. Releasing control of this form."**

He watched the eyes of the body dim before quickly being consumed in a flare of bright red. Shepard leaned away, bringing his arm upward to shield himself from the miniature firestorm. When it passed, only ashes remained. He spun and everywhere around him a similar event was taking place rendering every single fallen enemy to ash.

" _Feels like thermite, or some kind of variant. Smart. No way to for us to research their tech, without something to examine."_

Shepard cursed. A few feet away from him, Baker took a swing at one of the ones still standing only for his arm to plow through ashes instead of the body he expected. He went crashing into the ground, bouncing back up unsteadily. Hebert formed another of her bug bodies by the man as his head whipped back and forth.

" _Uber."_

Steve Baker staggered, cocking his head at the speaking bugs instead of looking. It was then Shepard realized, the man might not even be able to see. Might not _need_ to.

"T-Taylor? Man, t-that you?"

" _Yes."_

The bleeding man stumbled but somehow kept his feet. A raw chuckle, relief maybe, quietly emanating from him. "Sh-should have known… Y-you good?"

" _Fine, Uber. You can stop now. We won."_

"Awesome. I love winning..." Baker whispered as he fell to his knees before pitching to the ground face first.

The insects comprising Hebert's avatar rippled in agitation before seemingly falling apart only to reform into an image of Hebert sitting next to the downed man.

Shepard started forward but only managed a single step before Hebert spoke through her insects next to him. " _He is fine. Or, will be. No major injuries aside from that head wound. Maybe a concussion. Leet says a shuttle is already on its way for the wounded."_

He turned to the clone standing next to him. "And you?"

" _Fine."_

Shepard looked over to Hebert's body, still suspended and limp. Her armor was scuffed, ballistic cloth torn and fluttering in the breeze. Her head hanging forward as her limbs dangled in the air. "You don't look fine. I'd be surprised if you didn't acquire some extra injuries just by the way you were pushing yourself earlier."

" _Sensory deprivation. Harbinger's mistake was that whatever he did to me didn't break the connection to my bugs. I can't feel my body, so I'm not limited by whatever is wrong with it. Hopefully Chakwas can fix me. If not, we'll have to see what Leet can tinker up."_

Shepard stared at the avatar of the woman next to him. He had nothing to go on but her words since her tone was a monotone drone, but even if she had spoken with her own voice, he had the feeling it wouldn't have changed how that statement hit him.

"I'm sure Chakwas will take care of both of you just fine." When he didn't get any response from her, Shepard tried a different tact. Something told him she wasn't interested in platitudes. "We're not ready."

" _No."_

"How do we get ready?"

" _First, we need to contact someone for these people we saved. Only one hundred and twelve made it. At least, there are only one hundred and twelve in my range. We don't have the room for them on the Normandy. Not to mention we have no way to care for them after something like this."_

Shepard slowly let out a breath at the news. It was worse than he thought it was going to be. "There were over seventy thousand colonists here."

" _I know."_

With a sigh, Shepard nodded slowly. "I can get Anderson to send a ship for them."

" _Okay."_

"After the Alliance gets here, what's next?"

" _Upgrade the Normandy. Recruit. We need more."_

"More what?"

" _Everything. The best scientists to help us understand our enemy and to help develop tech to fight them. The best thieves and crooks to help us get the supplies we need. The best killers to do what needs to be done."_

"You mean to build an army?"

" _Done right, we won't need an army. Just a good team."_

Shepard nodded slowly. "I can get on board with that. Who's in charge of what?"

" _You."_

"Me… what?"

" _You will be in charge."_

"Why?" Shepard asked. The head of the insect avatar next to him turned to him in a fighting parody of what a real person would do. At her silence, Shepard pressed on. "Keep in mind I am not opposed to the idea, it's what I've been trained to do, lead, but you've already started this thing rolling well before I was even awake. You have the inside track with everyone on the ship save for my people. You obviously have experience and you have a plan. I don't understand why you are so quick to hand it all over to me. I got the impression that you didn't even follow my future self."

Hebert's avatar stood silently long enough that Shepard wasn't sure she was going to answer, until she did. " _Several reasons."_

"Such as?" Shepard pressed.

The roar of thrusters interrupted whatever she was going to say. A look upward showed Shepard the second of the Normandy's shuttle's turning tightly as it began to lower and land. When he turned back to Hebert's avatar, it was gone.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

The elevator doors thankfully opened though Paige wasn't sure if the contents of the room was something most people would have been thankful to find. Behind her the arguing voices of Dinah and Dr. Chakwas lowered noticeably as they too became aware.

Paige smiled. "Taylor, can I come in?"

Instead of any verbal answer greeting her, the wall of bugs blocking the door, collapsed. Paige watched the beetles, roaches, and several new ones she'd never seen before, break from the pile on the floor scrambling to the sides. The AI core was so packed with bugs she couldn't see anything but shifting little bodies.

Her smile never dimmed as she stepped into the room. Bugs scattered quickly to clear a path for her while flowing back behind her once she passed. Several strides brought her to her destination at the back of the small room and the narrow bed set up there. However, where the bugs didn't diminish her smile, seeing the occupant of the bed did. Taylor had her bugs completely covering every inch herself in the same way they covered everything else in the room. Once Paige reached Taylor's bedside, the bugs on her moved away showing her condition.

"Oh, Taylor." Paige whispered sadly. While she'd seen Taylor hurt worse, it still looked bad. Swelling had already taken over the left side of her black and blue face. One eye was swollen half shut, but not enough to hide the fact her pupil was four times the size than it should be, nor that the rest of her eye was so blood shot there didn't appear to be any white left. Her other eye was mostly just bloodshot.

Paige ignored the rustling of the bugs around her as she knelt. "Hey, how are you?"

" _Fine."_

 _You can't talk without your bugs, there is nothing fine about that…_ "I talked to Chakwas on my way in. She said Steve's going to be okay. Just needs rest now."

" _Yeah."_

"Greg caught me before I got here," Paige continued. "Just out in the kitchen. Which by the way, I'm pretty sure we're going to get an earful from Sharee about how where we eat is being used as a triage station. Especially since I didn't see much effort being put into clean up. Well, probably after she's done fussing over Miguel. I really wish she'd just take the plunge and tell him how she feels. It's obvious he likes her back and he adores Alex. They'd be really good together. Anyways, Greg, he wanted me to tell you he has your arm. He seemed pretty sure he can fix it but you might have to make due with one of the older spares until he does. The damage to the forearm was pretty bad."

" _I expected it."_

Taylor continued to remain inanimate. Neither Dinah nor Chakwas told her just how badly Taylor was injured, but Greg had hinted it was bad. While Taylor was never someone Paige would have called fidgety, people in general did not lay so still naturally. So... _corpse_ like. She heard when Chakwas was arguing with Dinah that Taylor could move her head now, so whatever the paralytic was must have been wearing off but Taylor still didn't move.

That told the master cape more than Greg's hesitance did. However, what spoke more, was Taylor's replies. The guys might describe Taylors bug speech to be an emotionless monotone, but she wouldn't. She could hear the subtle emotional bleed within it.

"The Alliance arrived. Actually it was the _ISS Bridgeford,_ but the big guy, I think Greg said his name was Jacob?"

" _Tall, black, well-built hard body? Laid back personality, bit scruffy?"_

Paige smiled at her success. "Yeah, that's him."

" _Jacob Taylor."_

"Thought so. Going to take some getting used to though, what with Shepard and some of the others having this thing about using people's last names since his last name is the same as your first. Sorry; side tangent. So, Jacob said that the _Bridgeford_ was one of the Corsairs operating in the Terminus."

" _I'm not sure how he would know that. Corsairs might be tied to the Alliance, but that doesn't mean they are acknowledged openly. Captains are given wide latitude to get results. Some of that ends up being news the Alliance would not like to have pinned on them. Registry would be classified, or should be. I suppose he might have served on the_ Bridgeford _before. He used to be a Corsair, so it's possible. I don't know. Liara might, or she could find out. If not, Altas has access to the Brokers network."_

"Huh. Well, Shepard seemed to know the captain, said he was a good guy. Dinah seemed confident. I didn't ask questions when they were talking, but I did hear that the _Bridgeford_ is going to help the colonists we saved. Take them back to Arcturus Station where Alliance doctors are going to give them checkups and stuff."

" _That's good."_

Paige stifled her sigh. She had Taylor opened up for a moment but just as quickly she shut back down. "Talked to Lawson."

When that didn't get a reaction, Paige continued, "Despite not being in armor, she seemed to have gotten though things alright. Quiet though. Not sure what her deal is, but I'm thinking she doesn't do 'people' well. That, or she's still upset we held her prisoner for a while and now that the action is over with, she's being moody about it. She seemed really surprised when she got the same treatment as the rest of the team when you guys got back. Kept looking at Med Bay then to Shepard when he was down here. Had a funny look on her face."

" _She is just trying to figure things out. I am sure Shepard will talk to her soon."_

"Ah, okay." Paige said. The silence between them stretched for as far as Paige could handle it, before taking the plunge to ask the question most on her mind. "Taylor, why are you in the AI Core instead of Med bay?"

" _Chakwas doesn't like bugs."_

"Well, I can kinda see that, she is a doctor after all and no matter how much we explain to her that these bugs are _your_ bugs, I don't think she's going to be okay with them in _her_ space. But, that wasn't what I meant, and you know it."

" _Why are you here Paige?"_

"My friend is laid up after almost getting killed by a super evil megalomaniac with delusions of harvesting all sentient life in the galaxy. Where else would I be?"

" _Anywhere but around me."_

"Taylor," Paige sighed.

" _I'm serious. You guys should never have made the jump with me. I should have come alone."_

"Yeah, that wasn't going to happen," Paige scoffed before softening her expression. Instead, she reached down scooping up several of the ladybugs nearest to her putting them on her shoulder. "Talk to me, Taylor. What is going on that has you like this?"

When the lady bugs flew away to rejoin the others, Paige scooped up a few other colorful bugs. This time, Taylor moved them as Paige hinted making her smile warmly, if silently, waiting for Taylor to answer her question.

" _You guys should leave. Take the_ Exiled _and go into hiding until the war is over."_

"Not going to happen, Taylor. Why are you pushing us away again?"

Paige shuddered as the 'voice' from every bug in the small room suddenly spiked, " ** _Because I'm going to get you killed!"_**

Instead of replying, Paige stayed quiet as the insect hive around her settled back down. "You haven't yet."

" ** _Yet_** _. I'm toxic. Everything I touch is poisoned. You guys…"_

"I don't know much about what happened down there," Paige carefully stated. "but from what I heard things went about as well as they could have, considering. We've fought long odds before, so I don't think that is really what this is about."

" _Paige..."_

"Taylor," Paige started only waiting long enough for Taylor bugs to settle from the interruption. "Look, it doesn't take a thinker to know what you're implying, but you need to get it in your head, we choose to come here with you. Yeah, in the beginning I felt indebted to you guys for keeping me out of the Birdcage. I mean I figured you needed me, no one breaks a Birdcage transit without expecting something for it and I knew what you wanted. My power. I didn't like you very much for that, but I'd deal with it to not be locked up for the rest of my life. Especially in the Birdcage with the most horrid villains ever.

"Imagine my surprise when I found out all you wanted from me was for me to manipulate a few people into trusting me enough to give information. You never once asked me to control people to do things for you, and we both know they would have under my power. Every time it was necessary you left the choice up to me. You know how I feel about my power but I don't think you know how much that meant to me."

" _But…"_

"No but's. Anyone else would have used me. You didn't. I wasn't even a part of the team a day and you were treating me like one of you. I can't fight very well, but you never pushed me to either. Instead, you guys went out of your way to help me keep singing because you knew how much it meant to me, and don't think I didn't realize you were rescheduling some of our working exploits around my show times."

" _We needed to be in those towns anyways..."_

Paige erupted in an unladylike snort. "I'm calling bullshit. I know for a fact that you postponed the Springfield job _after_ I got notified about Club Three having an opening for me to perform. Steve ratted you out."

" _...of course he did."_

Paige scooped the small beetle sitting on her shoulder into her hand before putting it on Taylor's and carefully clasping it with both of hers. "Near death doesn't do this to you, Taylor. What happened down there?"

When Taylor didn't reply, Paige pressed, "I promise it will just be between you and me."

Unlike before when Taylor's hive roared, the words they created now were practically a whisper. " _I…I almost gave up."_

Paige masked her surprise, concentrating on keeping her voice level, "Tell me."

The insect life around her became even more still than usual when under Taylor's power. Yet Paige waited. It took nearly five minutes of waiting but Taylor eventually started talking; slow at first, but her words quickly began tumbling from her bugs as if she was confessing.

" _It was right before Harbinger paralyzed me. I had a moment where I realized exactly what I was fighting. Reapers, they are like Endbringers. It felt like I was fighting Leviathan again. No matter what I did, no matter what I learned from fighting it, it didn't matter. There was no stopping it. There is no defeating it with weapons. No defeating it with powers or biotics. Even the tactics I used to kill its body, meaningless in the face of the fact he was just going to body jump into another and he had hundreds in my range to choose from._

" _It was then I knew what was going to happen. Stalling for the guns, it was all we had. Like stalling for time in an Endbringer Event for enough time for Scion to show up and save us. Harbingers immunity to mass accelerated weapons was just unreal and we couldn't kill enough of the bodies quick enough to prevent him from jumping without sacrificing working on the guns. So, I decided to divide us for the time we needed, but it didn't work. I wasn't strong enough. He was too fast, too powerful for me._

" _All I could think was, maybe, just maybe, I could buy enough time for the guys. It was all the hope I had left when he grabbed me that last time. When he used his power on me, all I saw was death. Steve's. Greg's. Yours. Everyone I ever cared about was dead because you followed me here and I failed."_

For the first time since Paige walked into the room, Taylor's head moved. Bloodshot eyes turning to look directly into Paige's own. It was impossible not to notice her tears spilling freely. "Taylor…"

" _When I woke, the fight was still going. For just a moment, I laid there thinking, no one would know. I could just stay there, die and that would fix everything. I sensed Shepard's team arrive, and knew the guys would be okay. With me gone, maybe you guys would do the smart thing. Go hide, be safe and ride out the war. You guys were better off without me. Safer."_

"But you didn't," Paige whispered sympathetically. "You got back up. You kept fighting."

" _Uber was hurt and Gunny was almost overrun. My friends were in danger. They needed me. I couldn't..."_

"And that is why we came with you," Paige stated surely. "And why we're here until the end."

" _Paige."_

"It's almost funny now, but do you have any idea how quickly we've come to think of this dimension as ours? Seriously, we've spent years playing around with Shepard's tech, but now we're here with an entire galaxy's worth of innovations we've only glimpsed at. And the people! I think I speak for all of us when I say, we love it here. Okay, it's not perfect and there are a lot more bad people here than where we were and they are stupidly powerful, but hey, it's still better than where we were."

" _I really doubt that, Paige. There were no Endbringers or Reapers on those other Earths."_

"True, but do you know what made them so bad?" Paige asked. "Even on Earth's that never heard of Parahumans, we still couldn't be ourselves. For me, everywhere I looked, all I saw was what life could have been like had I never heard of powers. What our earth _could_ have been like, had powers never happened. Even my music wasn't enough to make any of those places worthwhile. But here? Earth here is different! Better yet, we have an entire galaxy to explore. Scores of alien races to meet and their cultures to understand. Here, I can be Paige the Entertainer, and not Siren the Enslaver. With the sheer diversity the galaxy has to offer, what's a little thing like being parahuman in comparison?

"Yeah, we have a fight ahead of us, and we're not ready for it yet, but that doesn't mean we won't be later or that there isn't anything for us to fight for. Besides, Taylor, I've seen you do some really out there things to help one of us. Is it really that surprising we're that willing to be there for you?"

" _Yes. It is."_

Paige rolled her eyes. "Would it make any difference if I said we all have _really_ selfish reasons for being here? You know, play the villain card?"

" _If anything happened to you guys because of me..."_

"All of us knew the risks when we said we'd come. We're not going to let you down, just like you would never let us down. We're going to fight, and we're going to win. Then when this whole thing is over, all of us are going to retire and pretend we never heard of Earth Bet or Reapers while spending the rest of our lives trying to one-up each other in finding the best places to throw a party."

Tears continued to fall from Taylor's eyes while Paige held her hand. If ever there was someone who was the paragon of the term 'stoic', it was Taylor. Like most of the original crew, Paige knew Taylor hated showing weakness. To anyone. She never showed it to her enemies, nor did she show it to them. No matter what was thrown at her, no matter what was happening. That was just Taylor. She projected strength like an aura of invincibility that no person or thing could crack.

Looking into her eyes now, Paige didn't see the hard edged mask Taylor always wore, even out of costume. Even without facial expressions, Taylor's eyes spoke volumes. Profoundly and completely open devoid of any of the barriers she locked herself behind. Wounded, aching, while also grateful and caring.

" _I don't deserve you guys. Any of you."_

"I wrote a song." Paige abruptly changed topics; happy to see Taylor's strength and conviction slowly return to her eyes while still being open. "Couple of days ago actually when I was thinking about the stuff we're getting into. Steve's been teaching me to play the electric keyboard and I came up with the perfect score to go with it. I haven't shown anyone else yet, we've sort of been busy, you know? Want to hear it?"


	24. Interlude 1

**Interlude #1**

His stride was purposeful leaving no doubt there was a clear destination he was bound for. Various personal stepped out of his way to not hinder his progress, saluting respectfully with more than a few looks of awe.

Anderson sighed internally, keeping his face neutral and focused; datapad held loosely in his hands. There was a time when he wore a younger man's uniform he would have reveled in his hard earned reputation. Proud of the admiration, respect, and envy directed at him. But that was along time ago. Before Saren. Before the Eden Prime War. Before he heard of the term 'Reapers'. Now, all he felt was the weight of command and his inability to do anything about the crisis most refused to acknowledge.

Keeping his face bland, Anderson returned the salutes. He had to project strength for the troops. It was his burden to bear, and he would bear it he same as every other he bore during his career. It was what a leader did for his people. So deep into his thoughts it seemed he barely set foot off his shuttle when he found himself passing through the door at his destination.

A grizzled man sitting at the large oak desk looked up from the terminal in front of him. Uniform crisp and tight in complete contrast to the stacks of data pads, empty cups of coffee, and various OSD drives scattered over it. His welcoming smile barely visible unless you knew the man well enough to tell the difference between it and a grimace. Due partly to the scar along the right side of his face, but mostly due to the fact that if ever there was a poster for the term 'Grizzled Veteran', it would have the sitting mans face on it.

"Councillor."

"Admiral."

"Good, that's out the way," The older man stated, returning to the terminal in front of him. "Have a seat David."

"Thanks Steve," Anderson chuckled as he complied. "Still not used to being Admiral of the Fleets? It's been two years now."

"Politics." Hackett spoke the word as if it was something foul. "Half these datapads are reminders of birthdays of various Senate Members or their families. The other half revolve around the requests for the latest updates to our Fleet status. Why they care how the rebuilding is going, I don't know since we are forced to keep them solely within Alliance or Citadel Space."

"Doesn't sound much different than my usual day. I recommend VIs to monitor most of that. It's what I do. It's gotten to the point where I've had to add VI's just to track my VI's. I'm using so many now I'm actually worried my peers will find out and accuse me of breaking the AI ban." Anderson half joked as he picked up one of the offending datapads.

"Useless chaff."

"True enough. Trouble on Torfan?"

Hackett snorted. "Another attempt to extinguish Shepard's Memorial Flame. I've had to order our detail there to release disinters after processing as a way to keep the peace. Personally, I always thought that monument was in bad taste, but it wasn't my decision to put it there. I expect there will only be an increase in incidents once information on Shepard's return is leaked."

"I'm sure Shepard will have something to say about it when he finds out as well. He has always been very strong in his stance in the actions he forced himself to make there. I heard Mindoir has won the right to use Shepard's likeness on its colonial seal after a hard fight. I was surprised to hear that Elysium representatives seemed particularly against it and that you were there to speak for Mindoir's rights."

"Yes. Elysium wanted rights to Shepard's name for that new plaza they just finished building to supplement the wedding trade boom they've had in the last year. While financially Elysium was the better choice, I felt Mindoir had more than earned the right to decide what to do with the name of their favorite son. No matter the events in his career, you won't find a place where his support is higher. For a long time after the events on Torfan they were the sole holdouts when the mission details became known."

Anderson nodded placing the datapad back on the desk as he chuckled to himself. "Shepard could generate controversy by walking down an empty corridor. It's not even known outside a very small circle he's back and he's still making waves two years after his fall."

Hackett responded with a noncommittal noise, closing the page on his terminal only to open a fresh one. The easy silence between them was interrupted by the chime from the door.

"About time," Hackett gruffly stated. "Enter."

Turning slightly, Anderson took in the young woman who entered, and blinked in surprise. The young woman was striking. Sharp features complemented by her crisp uniform that appeared to be slightly tighter on her body than he thought regs should allow. Especially with how it accentuated her femininity.

There was nothing appropriate with the gaze she was leveling at Hackett, however.

Anderson had to cover his smirk with his hand as the young Lieutenant's eyes raked over his friend, followed by a subtle licking of her lips in a manner men knew everywhere. That last gesture forced him to turn away. Seeing the twitch in Hackett's eye, the sole indication the veteran displayed to the obvious sultry focus directed at him, almost broke his professionalism.

"Special dispatch from the _ISS Bridgeford_ that you requested, Sir." The young woman's breathy voice was every bit the follow up to her gaze. Easily as attention getting as the odd way she seemed to over enunciate each word.

Sitting a bit stiffer than he usually did, Hackett replied in his usual crisp tone, "Thank you, Lieutenant. Leave it on the desk."

Keeping her eyes locked on her prey, the woman placed the datapad where directed. The slight sway of her hips was not lost on Hackett, much to Anderson's enjoyment.

"Lieutenant."

"Yes sir?"

"Is that a feather sticking out from under your cap?"

A light bloom rose across the Lieutenant's sharp cheekbones as her eyes widened slightly. She raised her hand to side of her head, fingers finding the tip of the bright yellow feather that caught the admirals attention, "Um, yes sir?"

Hackett nodded slowly while keeping his iron gaze locked on the now flustered woman. "How you present yourself while off duty is, of course, up to you. However while on duty I expect you to adhere to all rules and regulations as proper of a ranking member of the service. This is Arcturus Station, not Jump Zero. Is that clear, Lieutenant?"

"Yes sir, of course. Sorry sir, it won't happen again."

"Very well, carry on."

"Thank you, sir."

The woman left without another word, blushing brightly with her head slightly bowed in embarrassment. Anderson turned back to Hackett, smiling knowingly once she left the office. "This is Arcturus Station, not Jump Zero?"

"Annual inspection tour was last week. I was not impressed, especially after their response time to the event in Sol," the man stated gruffly. "You enjoyed that entirely too much."

"A bit harsh, even for you Steve. She seemed quite taken with you."

"It would be inappropriate. I'm old enough to be her father." Hackett pointed out unnecessarily. "I probably trained her father."

"Maybe she has daddy issues?"

At his friends narrowed eyes, a look that froze more than one hardened marine into shaking in his boots, Anderson gave up all pretense and fully gave into his laughter. It was so rare he was able to see the stoically infallible man taken aback that he had to revel in it. The man was a living legend within the Alliance having risen from an enlisted man to admiral with distinction. He lived and breathed the service, exemplified it. Seeing him ruffled by a pretty girl was more than worth the extra work Anderson knew was piling up and waiting for him when he returned to the Citadel.

"It's not unheard of Steve, and I doubt it would hurt your reputation." Anderson continued to needle. "Pretty sure it would enhance it and she _was_ fairly attractive. You could do a lot worse."

Hackett grunted returning to his terminal though Anderson saw the slight twitch in his scared lips. "Moving on. I take it you know about Ferris Fields?"

Mood thoroughly killed, Anderson sighed, "Yeah. I take it the _Bridgeford_ evacuated the survivors? How many made it?"

"Final count was two hundred and fifty-six."

"My God."

Hackett picked up the new datapad and immediately started scanning its contents. "Ever since the first colony went dark I've shunted funds into finding ways to help them defend themselves. For those who would take it, anyways. Worse, few colonies are willing to host any of our special forces detachments. I understand that these colonists choose to build within the Terminus in order to be free of Alliance rule. I respect their choice and spirit but it makes it hard to defend them. Especially with the council's hands off attitude regarding that region of space. My Corsairs are spread too thin as it is dealing with traditional slavers and pirates."

"I'm working on it, Steve, but you know how the council is. They refuse to budge in any way over this issue."

"Any word from Shepard?"

"Not since the meeting with the Council, and you know how well that went. Was he at Ferris Fields?"

"According to this, he was. Captain Walker reports he spoke with him personally. He was quite surprised to not only find himself talking to Shepard, but to see his legend was well earned. Apparently not all of the colonists were rendered unconscious and quite a few observed Shepard's spirited counterattack."

"Good." Anderson muttered. "Part of the reason why I came has to do with Shepard, actually. Specifically, how can we help him without getting caught?"

"Depends on what he needs, although I don't think we'll be able to get away with anything too extravagant," Hackett replied. "Especially once it's known he is back. I can already hear the wolves from Internal Naval Affairs baying at my door."

"I don't have the details. He left in a rush before we ventured very far into it. He did ask about Alenko and I know Joker's already signed on with him. Same with Vakarian and T'soni. Small arms tech, replacement parts, mods maybe? Hmm, helium-3 of course, maybe provisions. I doubt we have anyone in R&D that would be able to pass along a few of their toys?"

"I'll look into it, Shepard reached out to a lot of people during the Eden Prime War and quite a few still owe him favors. I might be able to put a word or two here and there and see. The other ideas are attainable. I can have the _MSV Collins, Adams,_ or the _Wallace_ run intelligence drops as well as various materials; quantity depending. It wouldn't be the first time they've 'lost' equipment or supplies. Actually surprised no one's caught on yet considering how often they've drifted from assigned travel plans while patrolling near Terminus borders."

Anderson chuckled knowing exactly where most of those divergences led to. "I'll let you know as soon as he gets in contact with me."

" _I'm sorry to interrupt your meeting, Sir, but I have a Lieutenant Steve Cortez out here requesting to see you. He's quite… adamant."_

Anderson raised an eyebrow at Hackett's sigh. "Thank you, and that's alright. He was expected. Tell him I'll see him in a moment."

" _Yes sir."_

"Problems?" Anderson asked.

"Cortez was part of our attachment on Ferris Fields; as was his husband. Assigned to the Gamma Squad to supplement the aerial defenses until we could replace the defense turrets with modern. Unfortunately Robert Cortez isn't listed as one of the survivors and is currently listed as missing, but presumed dead."

"That is one part of active service I do not miss; those types of conversations." Anderson said sympathetically. "It never get's easier, despite what some people might think."

"No, it does not." Hackett gruffly agreed. "While I'm talking to Cortez, you should look at this. Apparently, getting in touch with Shepard might not be as hard we thought."

"Oh?"

Instead of answering, Hackett handed over the datapad in his hands. Anderson didn't even try to hide his astonishment.

"Exiles Online?"

"Apparently, Shepard has decided that his usual subtleness was _too_ subtle."

"I would say so." Anderson mumbled keeping his eyes glued to the datapad while Hackett rose, gave his uniform a sharp tug, then marched to his grim duty.

 _This is going to cause a political shitstorm._ He thought to himself as he looked over extranet site. Whoever Shepard assigned to design it obviously wanted to make a statement. And a bold one at that.

"...Conspiracy to keep the truth from the public… The truth about the Reaper threat…What the Council does not want you to know… What to do in the advent of a Collector attack... Project: Hot pocket? What the hell..."

Factual reports as well as more opinionated pieces, donation links for the families of those who lost loved ones on colonies that went dark, in addition to 'what you can do' segments. His surprise continued to mount as he perused the contents until he reached a section that completely threw him.

"Free silver membership access to forums… Gold members receive access to unedited and unredacted assessment of the known and suspected Reaper forces… Platinum members receive access to exclusive mission content including helmet cams?"

Anderson whistled through his teeth. This wasn't going to be a shitstorm, this was going to be a shithurricane. The political blowback was going to be immense. ' _Brought to you by Uber and Leet'. Strange handles, I wonder where Shepard found them. Part of Hebert's team maybe? Then again, you always did know how to find the right people for whatever task needed doing. Well, you're certainly not holding back this time, are you son?_

A quick look over his shoulder showed the door firmly closed before he returned his attention to the open extranet site. "Two fifty a week, hmm? That's not bad actually. I've spent my money on worse…"

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

 _Thank the Ancestors for air filters._

That the corpse was well into decomposition shouldn't have been a surprise, this was Omega after all. That the body was vaguely recognizable as vorcha was even less of a surprise. The bosh'tets were all over the station and a person couldn't swing a rifle without sighting one. The surprise mainly came from the fact that this part of Gozu District was usually well maintained. Well, for Omega. They at least spaced the ones who started to smell too badly, usually before this point.

Gren shook his helmeted head as he turned away, continuing to his destination. Obviously amused at his reaction, his companion chuckled which only irritated him further.

"I don't need your help, four eyes."

"Who say's I'm here to help you, bucket?" the dark skinned batarian easily returned, the fine hairs longer and thicker around the mouth poorly hid his smirk. "I'm just here to see you get your suited ass kicked."

Gren sighed, "Shouldn't you be working on your latest attempt to blow up the station, Ukhenith?"

"Out of iridium," Ukhenith casually answered, scratching the point on his left ear. "And I'm bored. Besides, if this goes the way I expect, I might at least get to see what happens when a quarian gets his suit popped. Haven't see that happen yet."

"Bosh'tet."

"Krinial."

Gren's chuckle paralleled Ukhenith's while the unlikely pair continued through the trash strew walkway that led to Gozu's merchant section. Their shared good humor being the only thing enjoyable about the experience. It proved to be distracting enough that Gren couldn't help but think about his bizarre friendship with the usually surly man. The only thing they had in common was that they were both exiles, though for Ukhenith, it was by choice. He never asked, and the batarian never volunteered the details, but then again, neither had Gren. Still, that seemed to be enough and the pair had an easy camaraderie ever since Archangel recruited them last year.

Cresting the last of the stairs, Gren took a moment to observe the crowd around the market center. "Sidonus said Garrus was on his way back."

"Good." Ukhenith muttered. His stripe of ridged cartilage running along the top of his skull flowing down the back of his neck darkening highlighting his disgust. "I'm sick of sitting around. If Sidonus wasn't more interested in getting his sheath stroked by his little blue pole dancer, we'd have already pushed Eclipse out of Kima."

"Jealous my friend?"

Both sets of eyes squinted as the man sneered, "Hardly."

Not seeing anything more worrisome than the usual riffraff or mercenaries normally found in this area, Gren started walking again. "Well, you will have to hold off on your plans of killing Jarred and declaring Kima as your own little kingdom. Sidonus told me Garrus had a side stop before he set course for here."

"Shame. My harem deserves more than the tenements I rule over now, but I can wait a few more days."

"Yes, but will they let you?" Gren asked slyly enjoying the slight widening of the batarians eyes.

"Hmm, point. Good thing you're about to be killed doing your good deed of the week. Since you won't need your place, I'll stay there until Garrus gets back. I'd rather fight every gang on the station than deal with those screeching _fanistial's_ when they've a mind to be moody."

"That, I think, is something we both can agree on." Gren agreed taking them off the main area and into an alley. "Still have no idea how you put up with them."

"They can be very… appreciative, of a strong man."

"But how often to they show their application?" Gren needled.

Ukhenith's shoulders lowered. It wasn't enough that Gren thought anyone else would notice, but he did. "Not nearly enough. However, once I've declared myself overlord of Kima, that will change."

"A worthy reason to take over, if there ever was one." Gren joked before turning serious as he eyed the door facing them. "We're here."

"Good. I was getting bored again."

A few taps on his omni tool and a quick data burst allowed Gren to open the now unlocked side door. Ukhenith looking over his shoulder the entire time. "Linti's work?"

"Even his VI's are better hackers than I am."

"True, but you're not good for much anyways, so that doesn't really say anything."

Walking in, Gren threw over his shoulder, "This from the man who hides from women?"

"You met my women. Who wouldn't?" Ukhenith stated. "Why do you think I spend so much time setting off explosives? How else am I going to dull their aggravating shrill tones?"

Gren paused in his survey of the store room, head titled slightly to the left. "Good point."

Without any further preamble, Gren kicked the free standing shelf in front of him, knocking it over and sending its contents crashing to the ground. It only took two more shelves before a human dressed in ragged colonial attire burst through the door. Seeing the enforcer, Gren ducked under his wild swing, slamming his fist into the man's stomach dropping him as easily as the shelves.

"Frantic; Stop. Questioning; What are you doing."

"Harrot," Gren sneered, turning to step over the retching human on the ground. "We should talk."

"Defiant; No. Demanding; You will leave, quarian. We have no business to discuss."

Listening to the flat ponderous monotone, Gren picked up a mazzer sensor from a shelf still standing next to him, pretending to examine it. Instead he directed his sharp eyes on the hulking elcor standing in the doorway that led to his shop. Like most of his people, he was big. Big, but slow, although Gren had seen them move pretty quick when properly motivated.

"I beg to differ, sir," Gren easily refuted. "You invited me here when you decided to subjugate one of my brothers."

"Cautiously; I have no idea what you are talking about."

 _You would think after all these years someone on Dekuuna would have figured out how to teach these guys to lie better._ Gren thought as he advanced slowly. _Or that living on Omega would have fixed that_.

A spark from his omni tool fried the sensor he was playing with. Gren tossed the useless bit of tech aside as he advanced. "Ken'Naer nar Yama, remember him? Quarian, green-grey suit, has a talent for fixing salvage? Opened a shop on the lower tier of this district? The same Ken'Naer you forced to raise his prices so you would always undersell him, while also 'taxing' him to remain open or else? Any of this ringing alarms?"

"Resolutely; Any alleged business between the quarian and myself is of no one else's concern. Emphatically; Go fuck yourself."

"I was hoping you would say that…" Gren whispered. The loud bark of a pistol behind him however stopped him in his tracks. Gren spun quickly, his own pistol in hand looking for the shooter when he noticed Ukhenith leaning casually against the door they entered.

Gren looked to the body on the floor, before turning his helmeted face to the relaxed batarian. Gren didn't need to ask, as Ukhenith shrugged. "It wasn't as if you were going to do it, even if you did see him, which I doubt you did. This is why four eyes is the mark of a true species. It really is amazing how any of you survived long enough to travel to the stars with such limitations."

Even though neither men would see it, Gren rolled his eyes. Leave it to Ukhenith to take this moment as his to proclaim the superiority of his people. Instead, of commenting, Gren turned back to Harrot. "Well, that was unexpected. So, where were we before that little bit of drama?"

"Breaking every dense bone in his body." Ukhenith's voice drawled behind him. "If you're taking suggestions, I would start with his back legs and work your way forward. Leave his face for last. I've never seen an elcor cry before."

"Right, I remember now," Gren chuckled as he asked, "What do you say, Harrot?"

The hulking brute shuffled side to side for a moment before replying in the same monotone as before. "With barely contained terror; I submit. I will release the quarian from his contract. I will leave him alone."

"Smart move." Gren firmly stated. After starting into Harrot's large eyes to cement the consequences should he decide to change his mind, Gren turned away, leaving the same way he entered. Ukhenith following along with a look of disappointment on his face.

Gren smiled at his friend's discomfort knowing why.

"I suppose we're going to see the suit rat now?" Ukhenith's grumbled lowly.

"No, paid for his ticket off station this morning. Sent him to Mor Jin; he's lead engineer on Dolo Station now. With the uranium dust storms on Zada Ban they're always in need of techs to fix their mining equipment and unlike most of his people, Mor doesn't care if you're clanless or an asari matriarch. If you can fix his machines, you're his best friend. After three months there, Ken'Naer should be able to get his pilgrimage gift easily enough."

"Damn. I was hoping there was still a chance you might get killed today."

"Nope." Gren countered joyfully. "Which means you have to do a good deed as well."

"I hate you." the surly batarian grumbled. "Why can't you just die so I can get out of that deal? If I'd known you were going to live this long, I wouldn't have agreed to it in the first place."

Gren laughed, though it didn't last long as Ukhenith suddenly perked up looking far too cheerful for his liking.

"Fine. I've decided on my good deed for the week" Ukhenith declared putting his arm around Gren and steering him down the thoroughfare that did not lead them back to Kima. "I'm helping you get your own harem."

 _Ancestors save me_. "Ukhenith, I've seen your women. There isn't enough sanitation solution in the entirety of the terminus systems to make this anything but a bad idea. I have enough people trying to kill me without compounding the issue."

"Bah. A man of your station needs a harem. You are Gren'Kel vas Neda, the Scythe of Archangel. The most feared quarian on Omega. Granted, that last part doesn't really do you any favors, but you have a responsibility to your station. It is part of Imperative and I would be less for not doing my duty by helping you live up to your responsibilities."

"Do I look like a batarian, much less one that follows your ways?"

"No, and that will make this harder," Ukhenith answered while continuing to lead Gren to what was obviously their destination, Afterlife. "Regardless, You are a strong man, and the strong have a responsibility to rule. As the scrolls say; 'The strong live in duty to the weak, for without the weak, who would serve?' It is our duty to care for and protect them, and in turn, their duty is to serve our needs. Despite your people's treatment of you, you continue to protect them. You live the duty, so you should enjoy the rewards that come from it. That is The Way."

Token resistance ignored, the pair completely passed by the waiting line before the doors. Likewise, they ignored the shouts of protest at their actions entering the most notorious club on the station. Gren shook his head at his friends antics knowing there was no dissuading him when he was like this.

"Hen…"

"Ah!" Ukhenith exclaimed just loud enough to be heard over the resounding cadence of the music bombarding them. "And here you doubted the will of the Imperative. See there? Proof that I was right."

Resigned, Gren turned to where his friend pointed, only to come to a complete stop. "No! You can't be serious!"

" _What?_ Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving, Ukhenith..." The batarian's strong grip took hold of his shoulder spinning Gren back around.

"Bah, you protest too much. Look there, three quarian women sitting at the same table without a male to look too. Such fortune must not be ignored; it would an insult to the Imperative."

"Are you seeing the same people I am?" Gren asked disbelievingly as he pointed to the purple, brown, and black neryia clad women. "Ignoring the fact my people do not have the same views of our women that yours does, I am in _exile_. Besides that, do you see the _size_ of that shotgun the one in purple has? I've never even seen that model before and I'm pretty sure I've seen every one in production!"

Ukhenith sighed, but wouldn't let him go. "Again you prove why four eyes is the mark of a true species. If you had four eyes, you wouldn't be looking at her weapons, you would be looking at what resides just below it. Even among my people the backside is the mark of a fine female. Tell me you do not find her form appealing?"

"That is not the point…"

The man holding him tilted his head slightly, smirking as he interrupted him. "No, it is time you built your harem. Come, I will help."

Gren squawked as Ukhenith didn't give him a choice by boldly dragging him forward until they stood before the dreaded table. It was only there he finally released him.

"Greetings ladies," Ukhenith interrupted huskily. Three helmeted faceplates immediately turned to the pair. "Fortune favors you today."

Gren watched as the woman in the purple neryia leaned back into her seat. Her tone one of amusement when she responded, "Oh, really?"

"Indeed, for I have the pleasure of introducing you to a fine specimen of your species. This..." Gren's attempted subtle getaway was ruined when he felt Ukhenith's firm hand once again grab his shoulder before jerking him toward the table. Gren hunched further when all three turned their gazes to him. "...is Gren'Kel the Scythe. The richest and deadliest quarian on all of Omega. He has graciously decided to provide for all your needs this night. Starting, but not exclusive, to buying your drinks."

Gren felt himself shoved into the remaining empty chair at the table by both of his friends large hands before the man smirked, and then _left_. Gren did his best to somehow disappear by an act of will while also planning how best he was going to murder his friend. Explosives, lots and lots of explosives, sounded like an ironically appropriate way to kill the demolitions expert at the moment.

"Please don't shoot me. I, ah, sorry about Ukhenith. He's... well, batarian…" Gren muttered lamely. "Doesn't understand our ways…"

His explanation was greeted by a giggle from the one in brown, a snort from the one in black, and a knowing chuckle from the woman in purple. After one of the most uncomfortable moments in his life where no one spoke, the purple clad woman did. Her voice surprisingly compassionate. "You don't wear the neryia"

Gren winced. "Um, no. It would be… inappropriate."

"The Haltak Incident."

If anything, Gren shrunk even further into himself at being recognized. This was why he never approached any of his people who weren't on pilgrimage. It was unsurprising she recognized his name. "Yes. I'm sorry to bother you, I'll just go…"

"I didn't say you had to."

Half risen from his seat, Gren paused. He quickly looked at each woman at the table and surprisingly not seeing the hostility he expected. "Pardon me?"

The woman casually waved him back into his seat while the other two nodded. "You were pardoned posthumously by the way, or so I heard. My team and I were away when it happened, but I heard about it when we got back. It was assumed you died with Bor Slen when his vessel was destroyed."

Gren slowly sank back into his seat, a small smile on his face. "Almost did actually. Would have if not for the team I was working with at the time. As it was I was critical for two months from infections that I received from suit breaches."

The two sitting beside him flinched at his comment. The woman doing the talking nodded her understanding before asking, "Why didn't you come back?"

Gren shrugged. "The choice was dead and pardoned or being a traitor for a mistake I had little control over. I hoped they would have assumed I died an Honorable Death, but assumed the latter since there was no way I could get word back to the Fleet without giving away I survived. In the end, I decided that either way, I couldn't go back, if only to spare my mother and sisters the embarrassment of seeing me again if I had been stricken from the rolls."

The woman sitting across from him nodded while beside him the one in brown asked, "Do you miss it? The Fleet?"

"In the beginning." Gren answered honestly. "I probably still would if not for the people I work with now. An, ah, interesting assortment of companions, but we do good here."

Surprisingly Gren received knowing nods from each of them as if they fully understood his thought on the matter. Before he could question it, his soon to be murdered friend decided to return.

" _Talisan_ , 2105. Nothing but the best, yes?" the batarian asked in his deep voice as he started setting down small canisters for each of them. "It's not good batarian ale, but I know of few who can handle it. Still, Varn said this is the equivalent for your people. Triple filtered and sealed within easy to connect to canisters. The bartender knows you are with Gren now, so any further drinks while in his company will be similarly treated."

"Ukhenith…" Gren started to growl before he was once again interrupted.

"Also, here."

Gren eyed the small digital key wearily, "And that would be…"

"The key to Suite 37. Most importantly, Suite 37 it is a clean room that Aria keeps for rent specifically for quarian use. Cashed in a favor Moklan owed me to get it for you. No need to thank me, just make sure your women have a good time."

Gren covered his faceplate, bowing his head. "Never mind, you can shoot me at any time you like…"

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Shepard clenched his gut, fighting the emotional upheaval within him. His deep breath echoed dully inside his sealed helmet before he let out the cleansing breath. The landscape around him was a bleak, desolate place. As he took in all in through the harsh blue glare from this system's star, he thought it appropriate, all things considered.

The crunch of broken stone over hard packed ground let him know someone was approaching, but he didn't turn. This planet hadn't, and likely never would, support life for him to worry about. Besides, he had a fair idea who it was. When the figure drew next to him, he found he was right.

"You shouldn't be out of Med Bay, much less off the ship." Shepard half heartedly reprimanded.

"Yeah, but I'm a well known malcontent," The young woman returned easily. "Besides, I think Chakwas half expect me to pull a jail break since she didn't make Atlas keep me from doing it."

"I've never seen a group of people push themselves like yours do. I swear Richardson and Baker never went to sleep last night and were going strong this morning. Last night Marino was in the cargo hold working on the armory and this morning I found him piloting the ship. Don't any of your people know the meaning of 'rest'?"

"Not really. Usually when things went wrong on Bet, things went badly wrong. Rarely any time to plan, gather supplies, or whatever. Just react and do the best we could. I got a message from Paige before I landed. Mission done and she just picked up Sharee, Alex, and Dinah from Illium. They're all on their way to the rendezvous."

Shepard shook his head. "I'm almost afraid to ask what you sent them to do."

"Probably a good idea. The law abiding citizen in you won't like it, but with Garrus gone on his own side trip, I figured it was a good time to get a few of ours out of the way before things got hectic again. We have a lot of needs and we can't be everywhere at once, but we need everything yesterday."

"True enough." Shepard grunted. "You know, Chakwas is going to yell at us when she finds out you jumped ship without her okay, whether she didn't restrict you or not. "

"Most likely."

Silence descended between them broken only when Shepard asked bitterly, "Not a pretty sight, is it?"

Hebert shook her head in agreement yet remained silent.

As much as he wanted to, Shepard couldn't bring himself to take his eyes from the metal carcass in front of him. "To me it was only a week ago. They deserved better."

"They always do." Hebert affirmed quietly.

Shepard sighed at the truth of those simple words. Together, they stood silent for a time before he once again spoke, "Can I ask you a question that might make you uncomfortable?"

"I'm standing on a crust of water ice while surrounded by a thick atmosphere of methane and ammonia. I doubt anything you have to ask me is going to make me more uncomfortable than I am right now."

Shepard hesitated, almost deciding against asking, "On your world, did I ever tell you about Torfan?"

"Yeah." Hebert replied sadly.

"All of it? Even my… decision?"

"Yeah, you told me about a lot of stuff like that. Including Torfan."

He nodded, partially relieved she knew while also slightly distressed by that fact. "It wasn't an easy one to make. I earned the moniker 'The Butcher' that day for a good reason. At the time, it felt like the right decision. The hard line in the sand that said, enough was enough. Cross this line, and this will happen to you. Cross this line, and _I_ will come for you. _Personally._ "

Hebert remained silent next to him, letting him gather his thoughts. "We lost a couple of hundred marines making that statement, most of our unit actually. Our commanding officer, Major Kyle, suffered a breakdown and was retired under a Cat6 over the whole thing. The men who made it weren't much better. But it was the price to be paid to wipe them all out. To make sure not a single living soul on the opposing side made it off that rock. It never bothered me before…"

Hebert finished when he couldn't, "Before you died."

Shepard nodded sharply again. "I've lost before but being here, I can't help but wonder why this feels so much different, than it did any time before."

"Sebastian said he felt the same way when he came here after his resurrection. He told me it wasn't until after he defeated the Collectors that he realized there was a thin line between being the monster that was needed, and just being a monster."

"Which was I?" Shepard asked hesitantly.

"I don't honestly know," Hebert confessed softly. "Sebastian was… broken inside. I never realized how broken until long after his death. Even now I'm find myself seeing things differently than I did back then, or hell even a month ago. You could say, I'm only now starting to truly understand what drove him to be the man he was."

Hebert shuffled from foot to foot, obviously carefully thinking each word out as she spoke, "I think a large part of his problem came from the kind of life he lived. The wars, dying and being brought back, working for Cerberus, and then having the survival of the entire galaxy placed on his shoulders. Dying in his bid to win, waking up alive, again, on Earth Bet after seeing everyone he came to care for die. I'm honestly surprised he managed even a semblance of sanity. Was he a monster? I would say in a way he was. Sebastian was the worst kind of monster imaginable to his enemies.

"I would also say that off the battlefield he was most caring man I have ever known. Loyal to his principles and beliefs. Firm in his convictions. Courageous and willing to stand for what he believed was the right thing. Devoted to those he considered friends, allies, or assets. Funny, no matter the situations. It always amazed me how he constantly looked, and more often found, a way to make light of something. No matter what was happening around him. But most of all, I would say Sebastian was just a kind person. It didn't matter if you were a friend or a stranger. He was just special like that."

"Somehow I can't see me being the person your people or you describe. That sounds like a hell of a person to know, and I don't think I'm anything like that man."

"You are," Hebert confidently stated. "You just don't realize it."

"What makes you so sure?"

"You only have to look at your friends to see I'm right. I'm sure Liara and Garrus wouldn't consider themselves your friends if you were anything else. I've also met Wrex, but I don't think his opinion actually helps my point. Don't get me wrong, you're a bastard." Hebert said wryly. "But being a bastard doesn't necessarily mean you're a bad person."

Despite himself, Shepard chuckled. "Maybe."

"No, no maybe's. I'm fairly confident you are a bastard." Shepard laughed earning a chuckle from the normally stoic woman next to him.

 _I wonder, could it be that simple? Before you fell, Ashley, was that what you were trying to tell me? When you told me I lived as if I had nothing to live for, were you telling me the same thing my counterpart figured out years from now? Was this the missing part of the equation you hinted at?_

He didn't know, but maybe there was something to it. The silence between didn't last though thankfully the tension from earlier was gone. Shepard decided he might as well ask the one question that needed most aired, "How bad is it going to be?"

"Bad." Hebert answered quietly. "We won't save everyone."

Shepard nodded to the grim truth knowing by the way she said those words his future self probably didn't talk about it much, but enough to know that 'bad' wouldn't cover the sheer cost to come.

He raised his eyes skyward, losing himself to his thoughts. Shepard thought about his career, the choices he made. The consequences, both known and unknown that resulted from them. Ever since he found that damn Prothean beacon on Eden Prime, it seemed events had taken a turn for the surreal. Hunting Saren, discovering the existence of the Reapers, killing Sovereign, his death and then being resurrected. All of that bringing him to this point. After Harbinger, what would they do then? Were the Reapers still sleeping in dark space, or had they somehow awoken and were even now slowly creeping toward them? From what Hebert divulged, his future self didn't find a way to stop them before they got here, so how much time did they have to prepare? Could they even prepare for a race of dreadnought sized AI's that existed solely to harvest an entire _galaxy_?

 _Seeing everyone he came to care for die… We won't save everyone..._

Shepard took a slow breath to calm his heart rate. "It's almost funny, in hellish way. I spent my entire adult life fighting to protect the right kind of people, from the wrong kind. Standing here now, seeing this and thinking of what is coming makes everything I've achieved, all the sacrifices made, seem meaningless."

"Yeah. It's easy to see why no one wants to believe in the Reapers with even a fraction of the information we have," Hebert agreed. "Fighting Harbinger, I thought the same thing. All I could think for a while was how I was going to get all my friends killed in a fool's gamble. But then I was reminded of something important. Something I lost sight of that was core to everything Sebastian believed in. Something, I'd forgotten."

"That was?"

"Why I fight. Sebastian once told me that he fought for the right kind of people, and that is a good thing to fight for. A worthy thing, but it's subjective. Who has the right to decide which are the right kind? I have seen some of the dirtiest bastards around show kindness, even goodness, while I've also seen the most loving and peaceful show darkness.

"I'm the last person to judge anyone, nor do I have any right to even try to. But, people no matter their species, are people. They're going to do what they do. Some will try and stop us, and we'll have to kill them. Some will help, for whatever reasons they come up with, and we'll do what we can for them. All any of us can do is our best to save as many as we can, no matter who they might be. For those we can't, make sure they did not die in vain.

"The really important part though, is what we do in between. It was something Sebastian taught me that I completely disregarded since he died. That is to enjoy each day as it comes, to revel in our friends and loved ones. To live. I know from now on, that is what I am going to do. I've wasted enough of my life focused on the wrong things. It is long past time I started living in the present instead of the past, or the distant future."

 _Could it be that simple?_ Shepard wondered. He wasn't sure, but he nodded slowly anyways. It would be nice, if it really was just that simple. "Yes, we'll save as many as we can. We'll draw a new line in the sand. We already know they're going to cross it, so we just need to get ready for when they do."

Beside him Hebert nodded before turning away, heading back to the shuttle.

"Heb…" Shepard started to call out, before correcting himself. "Taylor, thank you. For… coming here and talking with me. Especially, well, considering."

Taylor's armored body stilled, seemingly as frozen as the landscape around them, "You're welcome… Sebastian."

She didn't say another word as she walked away, but she didn't need to. Shepard turned back to the wreck they'd been talking in front of taking one more look at her broken body and the painted designation that somehow survived everything thrown at her two years ago.

Normandy

With barely a thought, he placed a mass effect field around a section of the hull that had broken loose in the crash, picking it up to study it in the weak light of the setting sun. Shepard's eyes took in the scarred surface, thinking about Taylor's words, and his own earlier thoughts.

 _No, it won't be in vain. We're far from out of the fight. We're just getting started._

 *****Authors Note:**

I hope everyone enjoyed the last arc. I know it offered darker elements than some might have expected. That said, going forward I'm going to try and have interludes like this as well as a PHO style chapter (Now called EO) between each arc. These two chaps will cover others as seen above, may have the cast in them, while also covering events across the wider stage. I'm doing it mostly as Readership appreciations so I hope everyone enjoys them. Also, feel free to make suggestions as to what you would like to see included, though I don't promise to use them all, I will use what I feel is appropriate.

That said, a thank you to those of you following or favoriting the story. Please leave a review letting me know what you think of the story or chapters. As a writer it is always valuable to know what the readership thinks of the content, how it is presented, or if the scenes are doing what they were meant too. Critic is always appreciated, though negative feed back just to flame is not. Again, I hope everyone enjoyed this and I look forward to hearing from you.


	25. Exiles Online

***Authors Note: Yeah, I know most people consider it bad form to do this at the top, but as I made changes to the entirety of Arc 4, I figured I should do it here. That said, Changes to Arc 4! Some new content though the most graphic was in 4.5, and the title was changed. Other than that note, Enjoy the Worm style PO (Now known as EO). If you enjoyed the story, let me know via review or pm. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the segment.

 **Welcome to the Exiles Online**

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 **Important Notice: Must Read**  
 **Matriarch (Verified Cape, Admin, Original Poster)**  
 **Posted On 4/30/2185:**

This notice is for all guests, new and old members, regardless of your membership status. Here are the core rules of the site.

 **Rule One:** Exiles Online is primarily dedicated to the dissemination of information regarding the Reapers. All information pertaining to this topic will be available to all, regardless if you subscribe or not. There will be no discrimination based on species, theology, governmental affiliations, etc.

 **Rule Two:** The Exiles are not part of any government agency. In simple terms, we are a rogue force beholden to no one political body. Our allegiance is not to the Council, Asari Republics, Turian Hierarchy, The Human Alliance, Salarian Union, The Batarian Hegemony, Krogan Clans, Spectres, Blackwatch, Commandos, STG, N7, Cerberus, Turian Separatists, or any other official or unofficial governmental agency known or unknown in the galaxy. We are not Mercenaries for hire. We are independent and exist to expose the truth and fight the Reaper threat.

 **Rule Three:** We are not villains. We are not heroes.

 **Rule Four:** All members of the Exiles will remain anonymous. This is to protect our friends and families from repercussions to unpopular actions we may be forced to make in the course of our mission. Those of us who have chosen to take on this burden are fully aware of the current political position regarding the Reapers. We do not wish for fame, or infamy. Nor do we wish our families to suffer or be hounded for our actions. Each of us will therefore be referred to only by an alias unless they themselves wish otherwise.

 **Rule Five:** First time attempts to subvert Rule Four will result in taxation. Further stupidity will result in punishment. Willful attempts to 'out' any of the crew will result in the harshest of penalties.

 **Rule Six:** Discussions to the appropriate thread. If such a thread does not exist, make one or ask a Mod or Admin. While our main focus is the Reaper threat, it is understood the fellowship may have topics to discuss that do not precisely fall into the categories we promote. Therefore, feel free to do so on your own.

 **Rule Seven:** Being passionate on a topic is understandable. Being a dick is not. The galaxy is host to a wide variety of peoples and beliefs. Keep basic civility in mind when constructing posts.

 **Rule Eight:** The only censorship that will be practiced here, is only that which protects the crew's identities. Disagree with us all you like but understand we know the terrible truth whether you wish to believe or not. That truth, is that the Reapers have already been here, they are here now, and more are coming. Only united and fully aware do we stand a chance against them.

For a full list of basic rules and regulations applicable to all users, refer to the appropriate thread, stickied for easy access below this notice.

 **Topic: Shepard's Alive?  
In: Boards ► News ► Events (Public Board)  
TKB17 (Original Poster)  
Posted on 4/31/2185:**

Okay, so my friend won't shut up about this site so I decided to look around to see what the big deal was when I noticed a few references to Shepard! Seriously, I watched his funeral two years ago, but he's alive?

Exiles. What's that _really_ implying? Shepard is apparently a member of this organization now, and there are rumors about ties to Cerberus. What happened? Who knows? If you're really alive will you answer yourself, and if not, who can tell me who the fuck this imposter is, so I can shove a warp up his ass...

(Showing Page 10 of 105)

 **tsukinoryu298  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

I heard a rumor you were on the Citadel not long ago. Is that true?

 **Battleblaster  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Shepard isn't really alive. I can't believe you idiots are believing this shit.  
 **  
Shepard  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Yes. I had a meeting with the Council and apparently I needed to pay my taxes for the time I was unconscious and being healed...

 **Battleblaster  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Okay. Prove it.

 **nightstalker (Gold Member)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Oh, hey! You probably don't remember me, but I'm the guy you FUCKING LEFT TO DIE ON NODACRUX! Remember Dr. Ross? I sure as fuck remember what you did to her!

 **Suryn  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Matriarch's notice says that you guys are not working with the Council though. You were a Spectre! Does this mean you have to worry about the other Spectres coming for you now?

...that's actually horribly ironic now that I think about it...

 **Shepard  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Battleblaster: What do you want me to say? I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite forum on the extranet?

Believe whatever you want to believe.  
 **  
jared_drake  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Suryn: Seriously?

 **Suryn  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Well, it is...

 **Shepard  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

nightstalker: I offered to kill you as well before the Creepers overran that part of the base. Just out of curiosity, how'd you get away? Pretty sure we fried the door behind us when we left to keep the Creepers contained until the Alliance could send in bio containment team to pacify them.  
 **  
Uber (Verified Cape)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

nightstalker: Did you pay for a membership just so you could say that? Because wow. Talk about holding a grudge...

 **Infiltrait0rN7  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Nodacurx, Vostok System, Maroon Sea Cluster. Undisclosed ExoGeni Facility conducting research on Thorian afflicted colonists from human colony Zhu's Hope, Feros, Theseus, Attican Beta in 2183.

Termination of all personnel would have been the more logical course considering the illegality of research and methods.  
 **  
nightstalker (Gold Member)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Fuck you!  
 **  
Dark_as_Silver  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

What is a Creeper or a Thorian?

 **The_Survivor  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Thank you Shepard. If you're really him. If not this is a cruel prank, but if you are, I can never repay you. Please see my PM. If this is just some prank… no. I don't want to know.

 **Contemptuous  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Hmph. The pitiful interface provided by this waste of creds The Exiles calls an extranet site only allows me to use text tell you just how utterly and hilariously wrong you are. You don't even have stimsim!

Holmes_Sire: Shepard wasn't on Virmire! I'm telling you it's a damned conspiracy!

 **Shepard  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Dark_As_Silver: These are the files from my personal backups for the Creeper and the Thorian. ExoGeni knows the most about them if you're looking for details. I wasn't on Zeus Hope to study them, I was there to shoot them.

survivor: Glad to see that you and your sister are doing better after your ordeal. If you are still suffering from the cranial implants, there is an Alliance doctor on Mars, Dr. Basil, who I've been told by our ship's surgeon that has made strides in repairing neural pathways often damaged when they are removed. He owes me a favor from my non com days. Let me know.

 **Holmes_Sire  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

You sound like this Salarian I know, _Cunt_ emptous. Always bitching in a high whiny voice. I actually stopped listening to him a long time ago. And I think I'll do the same to you. Welcome to my ignore list you idiot.

*You have earned 1 infraction.

 **Atlas (Admin)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Let us keep racist comments to ourselves. Civility costs nothing, whereas being Banned, will cost you time and access to this site.

 **Contemptuous  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

I am a Salarian you ass. And you spelled my name wrong.

 **Holmes_Sire  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Hkkkkkkk

End of Page. 1,7,8,9, **10** ,11,105

 **Topic: Tragedy at Ferris Fields  
In: Boards ► News ► Events ►Titan Nebula ►Craig ► New Canton (Public Board)  
Rorrim (Verified Cape, Original Poster)  
Posted on 4/30/2185:**

Ferris Fields is the latest human colony to be struck by the Collectors, and is the ninth -and largest- colony to be hit. All prior colonies hit hosted between five to ten thousand people with Freedom's Progress being the previous largest at 10,524 vi. Of the over seventy thousand people who called New Canton home, only two hundred and fifty-six made it. Survivors of this tragic event have already been evacuated and are currently with the Alliance at Arcturus Station receiving medical treatment and psychological help.

Donation links can be found here for any who wish to contribute to help these unfortunate few rebuild their lives. Wherever they decide to next. Thank you for your support.

(Showing Page 40 of 40)

 **Natadonis_Vitaco  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Shefories: I did not say it was not a tragedy. However, they chose to colonize in the Terminus. If you seek a lawless lifestyle, then that is what you get. They chose to live without governmental oversight. That also disqualifies them from governmental assistance, such as protection from the Alliance.

 **Uber (Verified Cape)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

[I'm an asshole.]

FTFY

 **Syndacite  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

You'd think humans would be a little better at keeping their colonies alive. Heartless bastards the lot of them. Maybe Eden Prime's success was just dumb luck. But then, look what happened there. Even the geth hate humans. That's got to say something.

 **Azure_Ace  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Syndacite: Wildly inappropriate place for that sort of comment. But yeah you have a point.

 **MalpiaEporil  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Why is this even being discussed? So a colony in the Terminus lost seventy thousand, have you seen the latest reports on Belan? What about theVallum Blast? Those are real tragedies with millions dead!

 **Yun-Breathe  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

A good point MalpiaEporil. Even the those living in the Terminus don't even care about them.

 **Selaramea  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

I don't see how the scope those other tragedies diminishes this one. Personally, I am thankful to see someone trying to keep awareness of this ongoing Roanoke. This isn't the first, but the ninth colony to go dark. The Ninth. Look at how much coverage that incident on Garvug is getting! How does a Corporation's military actions rate higher than the abductions of civilians?

 **Qrukson  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Credits, and who cares about humans anyways?

*user has received 1 infraction

 **Atlas (Admin)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Threads are available for the both Balan and Taetrus complete with donation links for the Intergalactic Red Cross, the turian Lifebearer Brigade, the hanar organization Healing Waters, and a great many others. This thread is dedicated to Ferris Fields. Take your topics to the appropriate places, and be respectful.

End of Page. 34,35,36,37,38,39, **40**

 **Topic: The Crew  
In: Boards ► People ► The Exiled (Gold Membership Thread)  
Siren (Verified Cape, Original Poster)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Hi! I'm Siren. Everyone can ask us general questions and get answers here. Might not be from the one you wanted to answer though, not all of us are big on the forums.

(Showing Page 1 of 7)

 **Infiltrait0rN7  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Query. What is your function?  
 **  
Siren (Verified Cape, Original Poster)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Officially intelligence gathering. Though that mostly means I spend most of my time sifting through data looking for links. Not all of us can tank a platoon of mercs and make it look easy Like Shepard and Matriarch, but all of us have our own ways to contribute to the fight.

 **Broket Bor  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Hi Siren. I can understand the idea of keeping your ID's quiet, though with today's technology that's a real hard thing to pull off, but I had a question. Is there any significance to the names each of you chose?

 **Siren (Verified Cape, Original Poster)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Yup. For some of us these are handles we've been using for years. As to our ID's, I think we have a handle on it. We have some experience in that regard. Mostly it's to protect the majority of the crew since the team we're putting together isn't meant to be fancy. It's meant to win.  
 **  
Ulenkir  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

I've noticed this around, but only with a few of you, but what does 'Verified Cape' mean? Seriously, it's bugging the hell out of me. Is it some kind of site award or something?

 **Rorrim (Verified Cape)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Something like that.

 **Leet (Verified Cape)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Inside joke, and only applies to a few of us. It's not something you're going to see many people with.

End of Page. 1

 **Topic: Collector Forces  
In: Boards ► News ► Reaper Forces ►Collector's (Public Board)  
Rorrim (Verified Cape, Original Poster)  
Posted on 4/30/2185:**

Just to be clear, the following content is in no way the only known forces the Reapers have at their disposal. This thread is just to cover the Collectors. We know from before (The Eden Prime War) there are Husks (Human converted ground troops by use of tech referenced as 'Dragon's Teeth') and Geth have been involved, though we do not know the full extent of how much the Geth have been infiltrated. Both references have their own threads as we have not yet seen either working with the Collectors.

I've looked around on the extranet but I've not found much more than rumors about them. That said, everything following is what we know from personally engaging these guys. Updates will follow as new, verified, information comes in. As we update our databases on all known Reaper forces, so too will the files offered here so everyone knows what they're up against should you find yourself facing them. To keep things simple we've set up easy to use links to the relevant files. Keep in mind our list is still very incomplete as we've only had one encounter with this variant of the enemy so far. If anyone has (Factual) information to share, do so by submitting that information to me directly. We'll check your sources and update accordingly. Information with nothing to back it will go into the 'suspected and/or rumored' sections of our forum.

A quick assessment of what we know or suspect. The Collectors resemble human-sized bipedal insects with a chitinous exoskeleton, two anterior pairs of what appear to be vestigial limbs, four eyes, and a distinct, large, tapering head along with fully developed wings that allow them to fly over short distances.

Their vocal communication mostly consists of insectoid chirps and trills, although they are capable of speaking in languages other species comprehend should the need arise. (According to rumors and first hand accounts from witness who have done buisness with them before they started attacking human colonies. In our first, and so far only encounter with them, only Harbinger spoke.) We suspect the Collectors of being little more than drones with no distinctions between individuals, possibly operating under a Reaper controlled hive mind but have no definite proof as yet since these guys have some kind of thermite based system that completely destroys all bodies and tech.

 **Known Collector Forces**

 **Drone:** Standard Collector foot soldier with an apparently organic assault rifle.  
 **Guardian:** Collector foot soldier with kinetic or possibly biotic barriers (unknown which)  
 **Assassin:** Collector foot soldier with a high powered heavy weapon. We think it's a portable Thalanx style weapon but have yet to acquire one to study.  
 **Harbinger:** Suspected Reaper controlling the Collectors. So far we have only seen Harbinger possessed drones. It is distinctive as the empowered drone has several destructive biotic abilities and barriers of a type that makes him practically invincible at range (At least it does against mass accelerated technology. Some of our energy weapons tech seems to be able to bypass it.) However, his barriers do not stop knives, omni blades, or other physical attacks. The problem with this one is killing the body doesn't do anything but kill that body. Harbinger will possess another drone. Delay time is anywhere between ten seconds to one full minute. Unknown reasons for the shift variable. We have yet to find Harbinger himself but suspect he is similar to Sovereign in size and dimensions.  
 **Seeker Swarms:** Large wasp like insects that utilize an unknown means of paralyzing victims. Usually employed to subdue targets over a large area, though we still don't know much more than that. Easily killed, but that is offset by the fact there are typically hundreds of thousands in a swarm; if not more.  
 **Praetorian:** Large beetle crab like things. Heavy armor and biotic barriers similar to Harbinger. We've only seen them once and used heavy weapons to bring them down. Offensive capabilities are still unknown as they were ferrying in Scions from the Collector ship and not actively attacking our ground team.  
 **Scions:** Scions provide ranged fire support, lumbering behind attackers while firing weapons and discharging biotic attacks. No barriers that we've seen so far, but they are very tough to bring down and their biotics are very powerful.

(Showing Page 56 of 56)

 **Davian  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Okay. So are they're stats coming out soon? Like atk and def? Ohhh I bet the seeker swarms have super high Dex! This game is going to be epic! Matriarch, eta? I've always liked D&D and this feels like a great throwback/tribute!

 **Matriarch (Verified Cape)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

I'm generally not vindictive, but when you realize what a fool you are? I'll probably laugh.

To anyone who came here hoping to increase their chances of survival, I hope you listen. I hope you believe. None of our videos are faked. Not one.

We need to prepare to fight, or we might as well prepare our graves instead.

 **PrescottLeath  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

What do you mean 'how much the Geth have been infiltrated'? They're AI's that decimated the quarians and then came after humanity! They attacked Eden Prime and countless other locations. What the hell do you call the Battle of the Citadel? A fucking skirmish?

 **Rorrim (Verified Cape, Original Poster)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

A tragedy, and every Geth involved in that attack was (according to public reports) killed during that battle. However, just because Geth were involved, does not mean that ALL Geth serve the Reapers. The fact is, we don't know. We don't have proof one way or the other. Saying all Geth were responsible would be like saying every turian was responsible for the First Contact War. It would be saying every krogan was responsible for the Krogan Rebellions. I'm not saying there are not Reaper controlled Geth out there. Our intel says there are, but I'm not going to hold an entire species accountable for the actions of a few just because they're different than I am.

 **PrescottLeath  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Species? They're AIs! That is all the 'proof' you need!

 **Siren (Verified Cape)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Space Nazi

End of Page. 51,52,53,54,55, **56**

 **Topic: Operation Hot Pocket  
In: Boards ► People ► The Exiled ►Uber ►Personal Project (Public Board)  
Uber (Verified Cape, Original Poster)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

So, after about twenty six failed attempts that resulted in several issues in our mess hall, I'm getting frustrated. Seriously, you wouldn't think it'd be this difficult but after our last attempt ended up with a couple a hundred thousand jelly beans, (Seriously, don't ask) I think it's time to get some help from someone other than Leet. (You're awesome bro, but dude, I'm thinking your tech might not be up to it.)

I've managed to create several edible (this opinion is not shared by most of the crew though Urz liked them. BTW, if any of you try this at home and have a varren, a warning. Varren gas toxicity after eating the Veg Pocket is a thing.) versions but none of them taste exactly like they are supposed to. Especially considering that all of us have different ones we like. So far all attempts to recreate Ham and Cheese, Philadelphia, Veg, Four Meat and Cheese, and Pizza have all ended up with rather… random results. Though that probably has something to do with the tech we're using too since we started off trying to cheat spawn them.

Anyways, here is where I'm at...

(Showing Page 1 of 1)

 **Lawson  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

What… is… dude?

 **Uber (Verified Cape, Original Poster)  
Posted on 5/2/2185:**

*Blink* Shit, I knew we came a long way but dude isn't even a word anymore?

Fuck that, I'm bringing it back too. Dude is now a thing.


	26. The Call 1

**The Call Story Arc: 5.1**

Reaching into the bowl, I picked up one of the small ovals. I wearily eyed the seemingly innocent looking object held in my metallic fingers. "Purple, white speckles that look like little triangles."

Greg nodded, typing away at his data pad. Deciding to just bite the bullet, or in this case tinker candy, I tossed the jellybean in the air catching it in my mouth.

"Well?" Steve asked with a knowing smirk. "What's it taste like?"

"Wasted youth," I mumbled.

"Seriously?" Greg asked.

"No dufus," I answered; rolling my eyes at Steve's laughter. "It tastes like the pizza they served at Winslow."

Nodding, Greg added the description to the entry. "Bad cafeteria pizza; got it. Your turn, Steve."

"Yellowish, little green marks that look like paint splatter." Steve stated flipping his bean almost to the ceiling before catching it. "Oh man, Mom's peach cobbler."

"Peach cobbler, got it."

"No dude, _Mom's_ peach cobbler. I mean that specifically. Fuck, it's been years since I tasted anything like it."

"No shit?"

"No shit man."

"Damn, wish I'd gotten that one. Mrs. Baker used to make a kick ass cobbler," Greg muttered. "That was the highlight of Sunday dinners at your place back in the day."

Steve seemed to be trying to savor the jelly bean, eyes half closed while nodding to Greg's comment. I never had the opportunity to meet Steve's mom since she passed away before we teamed up. The guys usually didn't talk about her, but when they did, it was usually something like this; short and sweet remembrance. I could respect that, I didn't talk about dad either and when he did come up, I did the same thing.

"That's pretty specific," I noted as I turned to Greg. "Didn't we have one like that awhile back?"

"Ah, yeah. I had that one. Algae 45. I'd know that taste anywhere after that cultivator blew up in my face. I couldn't taste anything else for weeks," Greg confirmed after scrolling through his list. "That's the first peach cobbler reference to come up though."

"Huh. Well, you're up Greg," I said.

Handing the data pad to the Steve, Greg took his turn. "Pink, no markings. Hmm, sweet. Glazed donut."

The three of us sat at the kitchen island, much to Sargent Gardner's ire. Gardner, while not a military man himself, liked to run the mess like it was. People were supposed to come in here, get served, then eat at one of the mess tables. When they were done, he'd do the dishes. He felt the only one who should be behind the counter, was him.

That really wasn't our style. Not to mention Sharee liked to cook too, which caused the thinker to have more than a few run ins with Gardner that almost ended up in brawls over cooking rights. Fun to watch, until the pans started flying. Thankfully there was plenty of cover in here and three exits.

Regardless, I sat in the forbidden zone behind the counter with Greg across from me and Steve camped at the end. When we took over the island, Gardner decided to do facility maintenance instead of arguing that there were two perfectly good tables just across the way.

Still wasn't sure how I felt about the fact that the guy who did most of the cooking also plumbed the toilets, but other than Sharee, he was the only other guy on the crew who could cook anything that required more preparation than unwrapping and eating it.

About an hour into our candy binge, a couple of techs took one of the empty tables. Not sure what freaked them out more, our joking around, or the fact I served them some of the stew Gardner had set aside for shift change. Then again, those looks could have been for how banged up Steve and I still looked. For Steve, a few still fresh looking skin grafts and a leg brace. For me, the fact my arm was my old skeletal standby and my eyes were still wierdly dilated and bloody.

Pretty sure that it was mostly the arm though. It was missing its ring finger -can't even remember when I did that- as well looking like metal arm bones, wires and noisy hydraulic lines. It didn't bother the guys or me and it was all I had until replacement parts were finished fabricating to rebuild my old one.

Picking up another jellybean we continued experimenting with the tinker candy Steve accidentally made last week. Mostly just to kill time, but I also had to admit -privately of course- that it was kind of fun. I usually didn't do silly, but this was a nice change up from what I usually did during down time. And I had down time to spare since Chakwas really wasn't amused when she found out I left the ship, much less her Med Bay without permission.

 _Speaking of Chakwas._

She was standing in Med Bay, data pad in hand and making no attempt to hide the fact she was keeping an eye on us through the plexiglass window. I smiled widely giving her a wave. Turning around, the guys copied me earning us an eye roll from the ship's doctor for our cheek.

Adding in Greg's entry, Steve asked, "Think it was just a quirk of design that Med Bay is right across from the kitchen, or maybe Cerberus figured we'd need it like that? Cuz if it's the latter that says something about the skills of the typical Cerberus Cook."

"The Alliance design was the same for the SR-1. Though I couldn't tell you if that was human influences or turian," I answered with a shrug. "Gardner's not that bad, but I can see the need if he ever forgets to wash his hands and people found out about it."

"Man, glad Sharee's almost back," Greg muttered as he took the data pad back from Steve.

"Blue, pink stripes," I frowned at the taste. "Okay, that's odd."

"Sup?" Steve asked.

"Dark Energy."

"The fuck?" Greg asked.

I shook my head, "I'm not kidding. That one tasted just like the when my bugs are affected by Dark Energy. I have never tasted anything else like it."

"Shit, that settles it then," Steve said, tossing back the jellybean he picked up. "How many of these things have we eaten? Couple of hundred now and not one was the same as any other?"

Greg scrolled through his data pad before he answered. "Yeah and that last one makes several hits where the taste was something unique in a way only the taster would know."

I nodded in agreement. "So that means that somehow the flavors would only be something the taster would personally know. We can use that to get rid of them and we need to since we have six barrels of the damn things thanks to Steve."

"Hey, they just kept spilling from the Spawner and it's not like you can turn that thing off!"

"Whatever Hot Pocket boy," I razzed the thinker. "But we really do need to get rid of them and there is no way we're going to eat them all. Not to mention there is no telling what would happen if we just spaced them. Next time we came back this why they'd probably have learned how to make hand tools or something."

"If they do sell, I can always make more," Leet suggested while completely ignoring my comment." Well, until the failed HP Spawner fries. We can market them on the EO as a limited time offer gag candy or something. Call 'um Uber's Every Flavor Bean. Think ten credits a bag would be too much?"

"How many to a bag, hundred?"

"Something like that. You know, just a small bag."

"I think that would work," I said. "But let's not make more until we get rid of what we have, alright? Seriously, we need the space for the renovations we have planned and there's no telling how many will 'fall out' of that thing next time."

"Uber and Leet," Steve corrected. "Man, it's always Uber and Leet."

Greg snorted, shaking his head, "Hell no, this fuck up was all you man. I'm not putting my name on this shit."

"You made the Spawner, dude."

"And you're the one who broke it so that it only makes jellybeans," Greg stated. "I told you not to touch it; it was sensitive tech."

"You can't pin that on me," Steve argued. "I was just trying to get the Hot Pockets to taste like something other than boiled turd."

"I would just like to point out that Hot Pockets were naturally disgusting when they were passed as consumables by the FDA," I couldn't help but point out. "While that alone still amazes me, that you know what boiled turd tastes like worries me more, Steve."

Ignoring Steve's sputter, Greg said, "I told you to leave it alone. Dude, you would think that after the matter converter I built blew up you'd know that. It's based on the same tech, and you know second gen models don't work right."

Shaking my head that the arguing duo, I turned away catching Hadley walking into the mess. I waved him over.

Hadley only spared a single questioning look at Steve and Greg. Seeing those two arguing over something really wasn't uncommon. "Yes Ma'am?"

"Have you heard from your brother yet?"

"No Ma'am, but I didn't expect to this soon," Hadley answered. "Captain Walker said that Andrew was pretty messed up but I'm just glad he made it. Most of the colonists didn't. Why do you ask? Have you heard something?"

"Yeah," I answered. "But I don't have the details. Paige said she managed to talk to him during one of the times he regained consciousness on Arcturus Station. She wasn't sure when you'd get a message from him so she's bringing one for you. Her shuttle should be docking in the about twenty minutes if you wanted to hang out on Deck Five for a bit. I think Miguel was looking for help with the Armory."

"I'm due to start my shift at tactical…"

"Don't worry about it," I assured him. "I'll send a message to Boyd and let him know he needs to cover for you for an hour."

"If you're sure?" Hadley half asked. He smiled when I nodded. "Thank you, Ma'am that would be great if it won't be a problem."

"Shouldn't be, it's just for an hour," I offered one of the tinker candies. "Jellybean?"

"Ah, no thanks. Small ship, word has already gotten around about those."

My laugh earned a look from both Steve and Greg before they went back to arguing. I tossed the jellybean back into the bowl. "They're not that bad, just random."

"If you say so," Hadley returned seemingly amused by my response. "How are you, Ma'am? Word was it got pretty rough down there."

I shrugged. "Alright. Lived through worse and my stint in Med Bay wasn't nearly as long as it could have been. Just off the roster for a few days. Or until my eyes go back to normal."

"Well, I'm sure it won't be long before you're back in the fight, Ma'am."

"Probably, but I'm not fussed by it. I've been in one fight or another for a long time now, a bit of down time is kind of a welcome change in pace."

Steve and Greg immediately stopped arguing; both capes turning immediately at my comment. It wasn't missed by Hadley whose confused eyes darted to the now silent duo, before returning to mine.

I blinked.

"Why don't you head on down to the cargo bay, Hadley," I suggested without missing a beat; my facial expression unchanged by the stares directed at me. "I'm sure Miguel would appreciate the help."

"Yes Ma'am," Hadley habitually returned. Eyes still uncertain as he turned and walked away.

Thinking fast, I went over everything that had happened since New Canton. Every thought, every action, every single thing I could think of as I watched Hadley round the corner to the elevator. The mess hall was quiet now. Thankfully the techs were gone, which just left Steve and Greg looking steadily at me as I frowned at the conclusion I was reaching.

I didn't need to look to know how he was still looking steadily at me. "Are you alright, Taylor?"

"Fine," I replied distractedly. "I think I'm going to go get ready. The girls should be here soon."

I felt their eyes following me all the way to my quarters.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

As was always the case, the cargo bay was a flurry of activity. Various personnel moved around looking for whatever it was they needed, or just moved things around randomly to get access to the same. As I worked my way through the mire, I shook my head. This mess was going to be hell to put back right.

A problem for later.

"Before I forget, the _Jostylin_ should be here any moment. Shepard's with Liara going over the future roster on Deck 2, so you need to deal with them when they dock."

"Sure," Steve nodded amicably. "But you never said why we we're sitting around waiting for them anyways. What's up with that? I thought we were going to Omega for that doctor guy we needed to help us figure out the Collector's wet work?"

I shrugged my bare shoulder; absentmindedly smoothing out my dress. To distract myself from the unfamiliar, sinfully nice material, I picked up a data pad sitting on a crate. "You will, just later. The _Jostylin_ just has a couple of people that want to talk to Shepard about something. Where are we on the tear down for that Cerberus QEC?"

Steve shook his head looking mildly disgusted. "Hopefully we'll have that done by the time you get back. I'm seriously not a fan of that Perera guy you put in charge of that. Man's lazy as shit."

"We didn't recruit these people because they worked fast, Steve," I reminded him handing off the data pad to a passing crewmate. No idea why that one was just sitting there unattended, but there was a project on it that needed done. The man glanced at the page then nodded to me before changing direction to take care of it.

"We recruited them because we needed bodies and they were the only game in town," I said. "If Perera doesn't shape up, leave his ass on Omega and we'll replace him. Garrus's last communique said most of his people weren't interested in joining, but some were so we have options."

"Why not?"

"Half of them want to keep doing what they've been doing. Omega is their home," I said earning an understanding nod. "Some of them were just in it for the money and are done now that they're flush. Only a couple were willing to sign on with us for the mission."

"Sweet, and don't think I won't leave Perera there. Man's pissing me off with his shit and delaying other projects we have slated for renovations on Deck Two. I mean, seriously, who the hell builds a great big fucking CIC as a nerve center for the whole ship and operations, then goes and makes a little com hub-office? It's a serious waste of real estate."

"Apparently, Cerberus," I answered wryly. "But what do you expect from the Illusive Man? Practically all his operations are built in Cell's with only the guy in charge knowing what's going on, and then, only for that Cell's project. Speaking of projects, you have the list I made up for our projects going forward right?"

Steve playfully rolled his eyes. "You're only going to be gone a couple of days, Taylor. I know what needs to be done and I'll have updates for you when you get back."

"Update Shepard; he's in charge now." I ordered absentmindedly picking up another abandoned data pad from a crate. Seriously, people needed to stop doing that.

"You know, for someone who's not in charge, you sure are giving a lot of orders." Steve dryly noted.

Ignoring him, I put the data pad back. Just inventory stuff, which explained why it was just sitting there.

Instead of dwelling on it I nodded to Miguel as he joined us with my crate.

The shuttle doors extended before sliding back showing the interior, and the disembarking passengers inside queued up. It was a long run from Illium to here, so I couldn't blame them for wanting to get out as quick as possible.

Sharee exited first, Alex sleeping in her arms. The smile on her face quickly moved to shocked once her eyes moved to me. "Holy shit."

"Hey, oh crap!" Paige swore as she stepped around Sharee. The bottleneck at the shuttle doors continued as they were joined by Dinah. The youngest of our group gave me a small smile and a knowing look when her eyes met mine.

"Hey guys," I greeted self-consciously at the attention. "How was the trip?"

"Long and cramped on the way back," Paige said, smiling widely. "We need a better shuttle if we're going to do things like that often."

I nodded. "Okay. Not sure what's available but Liara would probably know. If nothing else, she could point us in the right direction putting together a secure luxury shuttle. I'll probably have some ideas of my own by the time I get back."

Miguel transferred control of my hovering cargo to my omni tool before walking up to Sharee reaching for Alex, "I'll get him to bed."

"You sure?" Sharee asked, looking between her son and me.

"Yeah, I got it."

The jostling from being handed over woke Alex, "Miguel?"

"Relax, I got you, _Hijo_." Miguel whispered as he walked away. Alex smiled, laying his head on the man's broad shoulder easily falling back asleep as the big man walked away.

The reshuffling of our group finally let Paige and Dinah exit. Inside the shuttle were several more crates of things the girls picked up on Illium as well as an extra person. He was slightly shorter than I was. The dark skinned man had a sorrowful, haggard look to him. Despite that, his eyes were sharp when he noticed us standing around.

Looking into his blue eyes I noticed the indecision pass before he stepped before us. His crisp salute preceded his, "Lieutenant Steve Cortez requesting permission to come aboard, Sir!"

Steve looked at me, but I shook my shook my head. Taking the hint, he turned back to Cortez, "Dude, you're already on the ship. If you didn't have permission to be here the girls would have spaced your ass days ago," Steve said, only half joking.

"But yeah, sure, welcome aboard man. Things are a bit crazy right now so I'll just get to it. Crew quarters are on Deck 3, there's a few bunk's left so take your pick. Settle in and we'll get to work on stuff tomorrow morning."

"If it's all the same, Sir, I'd like to get started right away." Cortez returned. "I'd prefer to keep busy."

"Alright man," Steve nodded slowly. We read the file Paige sent earlier and Cortez's face spoke plainly that he really didn't want to talk about what brought him to join our crew. "Hey, Wesley!"

"Sir?" answered a head half buried in the stacks of cargo.

"Come over here! I need you to brief my man on the projects slated for the _Lex-talionis_."

"Er, give me a moment, Sir. I'm not exactly sure how I got here." Wesley returned.

Wesley's shout preceded a small stack collapsing on him. Despite his dour demeanor, Cortez's lips twitched in amusement. Steve winced at the half muffled, "I'm alright!"

Shaking his head again he turned to Cortez, "Sorry; guy's clumsy as fuck, but he's all I have at the moment."

"I'll make it work," Cortez chuckled softly. "Lex-talionis, Sir?"

Ignoring the sounds of Wesley's curses, Steve pointed his thumb over his shoulder, "That shuttle over there is the _Lex-talionis_. She needs to get her Beast Pro on and by that I mean we need her stripped down to the barest essentials to make room for the tech going in. Stealth, cloaking, guns, better armor; shit like that. Wesley has the data pad with the specifics."

"That's a tall order, Sir."

"Welcome to the Fight," Steve smirked. "You want work; we got work, and we need that ship ready to run and gun as soon as you can make it happen. As soon as I get some engineers, or some time, I'll get you some help. Just remember, you're going to be flying her mostly into high combat zones, so set that shit up right."

"Why don't you go help out Wesley and get Cortez started, Steve." I suggested.

"Alright, but do me a favor?" Steve asked.

"If I can."

"This thing you're doing," Steve said, waving at the shuttle that was being unloaded. "I don't like that you're doing it alone. So, be careful, alright?"

"I'll be fine, Steve," I assured the thinker. "Where I'm going, trouble is the last thing I expect. Besides, I'm never completely alone, you know."

"Yeah, maybe, just sayin'."

"I'll only be gone a few days; don't worry about me. You guys are the one's I'm worried about. Omega isn't a friendly place, like Tuchanka."

"Well, we'll have Shepard and scrub or not, man's good in a fight so we'll be alright. Take care of yourself and I'll see you when you get back," Steve said before leading a confused and slightly shocked Cortez away to where Wesley was still trying to extract himself from his predicament.

Shaking my head, I turned to the girls noticing the various looks they were giving me. Sharee was biting her lip, eyes laser focused on me. Dinah was still smiling to herself. Paige looked almost predatory.

Feeling more self-conscious than ever before, I looked down at myself wondering what the deal was. I didn't see anything wrong with the dark emerald dress I was wearing. It was a sleeveless number that left my right shoulder bare and partially fluttered around me feet. Even with my missing arm I thought it still looked good on me. Not ridiculous or anything. Granted, it was by far the most extravagant thing I ever owned, and definitely not something I'd ever worn before, but I didn't see how that would generate this kind of reaction from my friends.

Now that I thought about it even Steve gave me a weird look when he joined me at the elevator.

"What?" I finally asked.

"You're wearing makeup and someone didn't have to make you," Paige stated.

"Yes…"

"And nice jewelry that isn't bug related."

"I told you I had jewelry like that."

"And a _dress_!"

"Okay, Paige. You're kind of freaking me out now."

"I didn't know you _owned_ a dress." Paige continued. "I even went through your stuff looking for something like this back on the Citadel! Where were you hiding it?"

In the last place anyone would have looked, I thought before sighing. "You know, this really isn't helping my self-esteem any, right?"

Dinah snorted, "You look really nice, Taylor."

"Thanks, Dinah. At least one of you thinks so."

"Please," Paige said. "Of course you look good in a number like that. Hell, I'm jealous of how good you look but what I really want to know is why you're all dressed up?"

Sharee still hadn't said anything but looked very interested in my answer. Perhaps a bit more than Paige did. I shrugged again, still feeling a bit weirded out with the attention. "I told you guys I had something I needed to do when you got back."

"Yeah but…"

Paige was cut off when Dinah closed the distance between us, giving me a tight hug. I returned it awkwardly before looking into her knowing eyes when she pulled back.

She knew.

"Are you sure?"

"It's time."

Dinah slowly nodded, "You don't have to do it alone. I could come with you."

"Thanks, Dinah but I think I need to do this myself," I returned. "And I'm not going to be completely alone.

"Okay."

Seeing the shuttle was unloaded, I waved my omni tool sending my cargo inside. Once loaded, I turned and cut loose a shrill whistle through my fingers.

The noise in the cargo bay dropped enough that everyone heard the sound of nails on metal. Several stacks wobbled before Urz leaped over one running full bore right for me. One tech literally screamed as he dove away from the charging varren.

Urz continued full pelt until the last moment with his legs scrambling for purchase on the metal floor. Sharee and Paige fliched backward but I didn't. Instead, I stood still as Urz came to a stop before me; large eyes sparkling as he looked at me clearly excited.

I nodded to the shuttle which was all Urz needed to know before bounding inside narrowly avoiding hitting the crate I stowed.

"Be careful on Omega, and I'll see you guys in a few days." I said, heading to the shuttle.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

" _Steve,"_ Sharee hissed once Cortez walked away leaving the thinker alone. "What happened to Taylor?"

Steve looked up from the data pad he was holding, "Nothing."

Paige scoffed, "Steve, we know something happened. Taylor's not acting like normal. Normal Taylor doesn't do girly without being prodded and pushed to it. Now, what is going on?"

"Seriously, nothing!" At the two disbelieving looks he was getting, Steve stepped back. "Okay, she's been a bit weird, but Taylor's been through a lot."

"What do you mean weird?" Sharee asked.

"Well, you know, more at ease. Like, laid back and shit. We were even hanging out a bit while waiting on you guys to get back."

"That's not all," Paige pressed.

"Look," Steve sighed, "Fine, but this shit needs to be on the down low, alright?"

Paige and Sharee nodded. "Taylor _might;_ and I stress might, be compromised. Maybe."

Paige frowned. "Then why did you let her leave the ship? If she's mastered, she should be in quarantine."

"Because she passed the checklist," Steve assured them. "Taylor noticed things first and brought it to me. We ran her through the protocol and she passed. Taylor even insisted on brain scans. Chakwas did hers and Greg did ones like those we did, you know, back then. Everything came back fine."

Not looking reassured, Sharee turned to the youngest in the group, "Dinah, what do you think?"

Dinah wasn't paying much attention to the conversation, watching the shuttle slowly cruise through open shuttle bay and into the white studded vista before them. Sharee's question brought her around slightly confused. "What?"

"Taylor, is there something wrong with her?"

Dinah blinked at the numbers floating through her mind. "Eight seven point five six one zero something did happen. Ninety eight point two one eight eight it has something to do with her encounter with Harbinger. I can't get a feel for what it is but nineteen point seven two five eight Taylor's indoctrinated or mastered somehow."

"That still doesn't explain much." Sharee half growled in frustration. "Taylor acting weird has never been a good thing. I'm really worried about her. I don't think she can go through another event like last time."

"I don't think it's like that," Steve said. "Seriously, you guys haven't been hanging out with her the last few days. She's every bit as mission focused as she always is, but she's chilled about stuff. Like I said before, laid back."

Still looking at Dinah, Paige stated, "You know what she's doing."

Keeping quiet, Dinah nodded.

"You're not going to tell us either, are you?"

"No," Dinah slowly replied.

"Even you're not convinced her being alone is a good thing," Paige noted.

Dinah grimaced. "I don't know. The numbers are shifting far too much to get any kind of read on her. It's worse than it usually is but, seventy three point six zero eight one Greg knows what's going on with her."

Sharee immediately turned on Steve, "Where is he?"

Steve looked around as if just noticing the lack of the tinker in question. "Shit, now that you mention it, I don't know. I saw him a while ago when we were hanging out in the mess, but I haven't seen him since. Might be in that workshop he was setting up on Deck 4."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Bright sun light gave way to the spectrally familiar darkness that seemed to be common place for an establishment like this. I smiled softly as my eyes adjusted to the interior. It was a long day and change to get here, but now that I was, the apprehension I'd been feeling was replaced with something far better. Nostalgia.

The Broken Spoke was exactly the way Sebastian remembered it, which was surprising considering the last time he was here was before he shipped out for boot. I slowly made my way over to the Wall of Glory of Roclaw racers instantly noting some changes, but the overall feel and look of the place hadn't changed in the intervening years.

Unlike bars on the Citadel or Illium I'd seen, this one was more old school. Obvious tech aside, it was more something you'd find back on Bet. A table for cards, couple of pool tables and of course a dance floor. Lots of empty tables for people to gather after a hard day and drink their troubles away or brag about whatever. The place was empty right now, but that figured since it was still early in the day. I was actually surprised the place was even open this early but thankful for it.

"Welcome to the Crash and Burn," the bartender greeted civilly. "What are ya havin'?"

I turned to the man behind the bar catching him eyeing me up. Specifically, his eyes seemed to focus on my missing arm and the scars that showed. I immediately noticed the knowing look he wore as I approached.

It was obvious I wasn't a local and I bet he didn't see many people like me walk through his door but I was pretty sure what caused that look on his face. "I thought this place was called the Broken Spoke?"

"Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time," he muttered to himself. "This place hasn't been called that since Harry died and Nick took over and renamed the place."

"Old Man Harry died?" I asked. "I was hoping to talk to him."

"You've been gone awhile then. It's been bout' ten years or so now since he passed."

"This is actually my first visit to Mindoir," I explained while making my way to the bar taking a seat by the kiosk. "A close friend of mine grew up here. Talked a lot about it. I was in the area, thought I'd stop by. He had a lot of nice things to say about Harry."

"Huh," the bartender grunted. Even with my focus on the kiosk, I had a good idea what he was thinking. No one just 'stopped by' Mindoir. Instead of commenting on it he said, "Yeah, Harry was interesting all right. Well, my name's Robert. What would you like?"

I frowned at not finding what I was looking for, but then again, I guess that should have been surprising. "Do you do custom drinks? I don't see what I would like here."

"Depends," Robert answered. "Special occasion?"

"It's my anniversary," I answered blandly, finally looking toward him from the kiosk.

"Well, that qualifies," Robert returned with a warm smile. "Nick keeps a few things in back for special occasions. Some Earth Champaign and I'm pretty sure we still have that bottle of 2058 Thessian Red. While not as good, I know we have few other wines. Maybe even some Earth stuff. What would you like? "

"Black Death."

Robert blinked at my completely non emotional response. It wasn't hard to know what he was thinking. Nobody ordered something like that just for the buzz. Well, I suppose a krogan probably would, but they were a damn rare sight this far out. Doubt this guy had ever even seen a krogan, much less served one. Not nearly enough going on out here to attract a merc's attention.

"Oh," He grunted. "One of _those_ anniversaries."

I didn't reply; answering with a weak smile. Robert stared at me for a moment before he set to work.

Placing a bottle of Dakunna Brown on the bar, I watched him grab four other bottles of liquor he'd need. "You know, generally every third one of these tends to put a person in the hospital. If it doesn't outright kill them. Just so you know, we're not liable if you end up one of the unlucky ones."

"That's fine."

Grunting again, he set the Irune Gatekeeper over the small flame to warm it. I could see his curiosity overcoming his discomfort so wasn't surprised when he asked, "Not my business, but it seems like there's a story there."

I shrugged. "Not as much of one as you'd think."

"Sorry, probably personal. Don't mean to pry."

"It's fine. Seems almost a lifetime ago now," I muttered half to myself as I thought through my response. In the end, I answered him. Putting things behind me was what I was here to do after all.

"You're the first person outside a very select few to know about it. The others were there, but I guess it's really not much of a story; I know others have one like it. Got… _captured_ you could say. By a slaver, of a sort. Couple of years ago now."

"I half figured it was something like that," Robert muttered sympathetically. "We see a few like yourself come through from time to time. Especially after Shepard's payback to those bastards on Torfan."

Roberts comment earned a sour chuckle from me. "Yeah, my friend mentioned something like that once. Nikos had a particular fetish and… unusual tech. It's something that's stuck with me for a long time."

Mixing two dark liquors, Robert kept one eye on me. "Sounds like a right bastard, but most of those who do that kind of thing usually are."

"Yeah, Nikos was pretty twisted. Having slaves to wait on him hand and foot wasn't enough. He wanted them to love him too. His tech pretty much guaranteed that was going to happen, eventually, no matter who you were. But, his real kink was for certain people. Bit of a chauvinist and particularly hated women who rose to prominence. For them, his usual wasn't enough."

"Not sure I'm following that."

I paused for a moment, hesitating. "I… don't really like talking about it. Actually, I've never really talked about it except to my friends after they found me. But… would you mind listening? It might get a little uncomfortable."

Robert's smile was encouraging. "I'm not going anywhere. Sometimes, people just need to let off steam. Let things go. If I can help I'd be glad to. Even if it's just listening."

I nodded, feeling the usual anger, fear and self-loathing that always seemed to roll through me when I thought of those days. I licked my dry lips, forcing myself to say the words that needed to be said if I was ever going to get past it.

"Nikos had this thing about being better than most people, honestly thought he was entitled to his _comforts_. That went triple for women. They only existed for his pleasure. There was a time I was rather… high profile, you could say. I wasn't the first he decided needed to be re-educated."

"Ah, I'm sorry to hear it was something like that," Robert sighed, trying to empathize. "It's always a bad deal, but when it's personal like that, especially for no reason other than some prick's ego, that seems to make it worse."

"I suppose."

"You don't think so?"

"I don't necessarily disagree. It's just in my case, I was already half lost when he found me. If it wasn't him, it would have been someone else. He wasn't unique in the circles I used to run in. Just very effective."

"Sounds like you had a lot of enemies."

"I was fairly popular back then, yeah," I chuckled darkly, eyes unseeingly at the far wall. "As I said, it wasn't enough to use his tech to make me love him. He wanted me to choose it, to beg him to use his tech on me."

" _Fuck_ ," Robert cursed, handing over the finished drink. "That sounds a lot more personal than just being high profile. What the hell did you do to this guy? Kill his brother? His _kid_?"

"No, just the opposite actually. I didn't know it then, but I found out later I actually employed one of his kids in my hometown. Funny enough he was only a few years younger than I was then. I think the closest I ever came to Nikos before all this was flying near his place once. No, this wasn't personal for him like you are thinking.

"You see, he just didn't like that a woman achieved some of the things I had. The costs of my successes didn't matter. Only that I was put in my place did. That and I was the only one who could get who he really wanted. Nikos thought turning me to get her would be…poetic. He liked that kind of thing."

Robert shook his head as I took a small sip of the Black Death. Harsh didn't even describe it, but it did the trick in easing the ache in my chest. "So, that was what he did. I was already in a bad place when he made his move. Then he found me, captured me. I held out a long time, bit over a week from what people said later but eventually Nikos got what he wanted. I broke."

Robert watched me take another sip. Larger than the last. He remained silent, letting me say what I would or not if that was what I chose.

Setting the glass back down, I kept my eyes on the bar, "I think it took a few days to patch me up after that. I remember… the pain of not being able to serve him. Laying there in an agony that burned through the strongest pain killers because it was taking to long to heal me. Nikos wanted me to do something, and doing that would make him happy. That was all that mattered to me then. Making Nikos happy was the only thing that kept the planet spinning."

Through the haze of my confession and memories, I noted Robert immediately started making a second drink. I slid my now empty glass to him as I watched. By the time I started talking again; Robert must have changed his mind. He made one for himself too.

I didn't blame him.

"Nikos wanted me to capture Dinah," At Robert's blank look, I clarified, "Long story. She's kind of like my adopted little sister. She's, _gifted_. Nikos wanted her gifts for himself. I was well known for protecting her, keeping people from exploiting her. _Very_ well known for it actually. I'm pretty sure the irony wasn't lost on him, or anyone else who knew or found out what was going on at the time."

Silently Robert handed her the next round, taking up his own and downing half of the foul concoction in one swallow. His eyes darted from my missing arm, to the scar on my face as he blinked away the moisture in his eyes from his drink. "But you got free."

"Eventually, yeah. Mostly thanks to two things I learned."

"Enigmatic," my companion muttered.

Robert's hands clenched tightly to his glass when I looked into his eyes. "Call them epiphanies, if you want. A person learns a lot about themselves in a situation like that. I know I did. The first was that anyone can be made to do anything, with the right motivation. Even me."

"I've heard similar from others like yourself," Robert said softly.

Lowering my eyes shamefully, I shrugged, "While I was being fixed up by his people, I overheard more than a few conversations that they really shouldn't have let me hear. You see, I wasn't Nikos's type. He only beds the best and I'm nowhere near supermodel gorgeous like the other women under his thrall. Thanks to my conditioning, it hurt when I realized that the closest I would get to him would be through the bed of one of his lieutenants."

Taking a drink of the dark liquor I frowned at the false feelings that even now haunted me. "His power, _tech_ , didn't make me stop loving my friends, just made him the center of my world. It was a… curious loophole.

"It was then I realized that no matter how pleased he was when I brought Dinah to him, I was still going lose everything I ever loved. All my friends when I betrayed them, Dinah, and Nikos was lost before I ever really had him."

"But you did kill him right?"

"Eventually," I muttered into my cup. "It took a few days to come to terms with the second thing I figured out about myself."

"Second thing?"

"Yeah. Apparently, I'm the jealous type," I deadpanned humorlessly. "Really, it was a no win situation no matter what I did. My thought process was pretty messed up as I was probably more than a bit insane. But I figured if I was going to lose anyways, I'd lose big. Destroy the one thing that mattered the most to me first, work my way down the list from there hoping my friends would stop me before I went too far.

"By the time I figured that out I was healed up and had already set out to kidnap Dinah. I had to backtrack quite a bit. I don't remember a lot of that, but I remember the look on Nikos's face when I showed up at his compound and started killing all of his thralls. I got him eventually but, it was a long fight. I was very… _thorough_ in my determination to burn the world down."

"Good," Robert grunted as he dropped the thick shot of heated liquor into the larger glass of mixed beer.

Taking another sip, this one larger than those before, I looked deeply into the dark brew half lost in my memories. It was surprisingly freeing admitting to those things that haunted me all these years. I knew myself well enough to know I've been dancing on the razor's edge for a long time. Despite everything the guys did to try and fix me afterward I never seemed to really be able to put it behind me.

Maybe I would always be a bit broken, but feeling the yoke lifting made me think that maybe there would be a time when I wouldn't be. Even now, I wasn't quite there, but for the first time in what felt like a lifetime of misery, I felt like I was finally making progress.

"You still love him."

I met Robert's eyes not denying it as I grinned sadistically. Shivers raced down his spine making him quake slightly from my gaze. "Have you ever wondered how long it would take one hundred and fifty-six thousand four hundred and eighteen various terrain bugs to completely devour a full grown, two hundred and thirty pound man to the bone?"

"Ah, no," Robert muttered looking taken aback by my question. "I can honestly say I never wondered that."

"I could tell you." I replied surely before taking a hearty drink that vanished half my glass. My following words spoken around the chunk of ice started chewing, "Though I think that if he hadn't squirmed so much, I could have cut fifteen minutes off my time."

"Bitchin'." Robert chuckled weakly looking a little sick, "Think I'll pass on the details but it sounds like he got exactly what he had coming."

My answering whisper was so low I wasn't sure Robert heard me, "Until death did we part."

The silence between us thickened. I barely noticed it as I sat thinking. It must have gotten to be a bit much for the uncomfortable bartender as he broke it by asking, "So, is that the only thing that brings you to Mindoir? Taking the tour like some others have?"

"Not quite. Partly." Placing the empty glass on the table. "Mostly I'm fulfilling a promise I made a long time ago."

"Ah," Robert grunted looking confused. "Always a good thing when you can manage it."

"Yeah, this one's several years in the making, but I'm finally here now."

"Well, I hope it works out for you. Just for my peace of mind, you're not here to hurt anyone, are you?"

"Not today," I assured him as I placed a credit chit on the bar. It was time. I rose from my seat, turning away to leave. "Just helping a friend get back home. Thanks for the drink, Robert."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

The shuttle gave a lurch as I landed it a bit roughly. More from the fact I was piloting one handed than my stop at the Crash and Burn. Beside me Urz grunted before looking accusingly at me.

"What? You're alive."

Urz huffed, lowering his massive head to the floor with a slight whine.

I rolled my eyes at the varren's antics. "You're as bad as the guys. My driving isn't that bad."

Urz snorted leaving me with no doubts about his thoughts on the subject.

"Everyone's a critic," I mumbled to myself as I left the cockpit making my way to the back of the shuttle. Urz remained lying down until I opened the shuttle door.

The vista spread out before me was breathtaking. Before me the lay the canyons of the Roclaws in all their glory seeming cut into the landscape stretching from horizon to horizon. My shuttle was set on a small mesa that was infamous among the local racers as being the hardest part of the unofficial track. I took a moment to breath in the sweet scent of the wild miri blossoms that dotted the bluish grass that crowned the area.

Mindoir was currently in a late spring, so it wasn't hot enough to be a bother, especially with the cool breeze that swept this region. Above the blue-violet skyline dominated showing the faint outline of one of the full moons.

It was gorgeous. Even better than Sebastian's memories of it.

Feeling Urz nudge my leg, I smiled down to the varren. "Go ahead."

With a happy warbling bark, Urz took off to go explore the new area. My smile widened as I watched him play. After taking a moment more to enjoy the view, I activated my omni tool to connect to the crate I bought and started walking barefoot to a small patch of the mesa that was familiar to me from Sebastian's memories.

Once I was in place, I set a construction drone to work digging. While it did its job, I opened the crate I packed a few days ago when I decided to do this. Inside rested everything Sebastian owned from Earth Bet. Armor, weapons, omni tool and the like but there was also the more personal things. Some pictures, zippo and even a pack of the cigarettes he favored. His thermos and favorite coffee cup that he used all the time also sat within.

It wasn't much, but Sebastian wasn't the sentimental type nor the kind of guy who accumulated stuff that didn't serve a purpose. What it was, was everything of his that I sealed away years ago because I couldn't face them after those days in Montreal.

After my betrayal.

The drone beeped at me letting me know it was done before it derezzed. A look at the hole showed it was exactly what it should have been. Taking a deep breath, I knelt into the soft earth uncaring about my dress. I set to transferring everything one by one. Taking a moment with each to remember.

To finally, truly, say goodbye.

I let my tears fall unhindered. Now and then I chuckled at something I remembered from those days but mostly I just let it all wash through me. Slowly the grave was filled and the crate emptied until only two items remained.

For a long time, I simply stared at them silently. I didn't turn away until I felt Urz nudge me again. He was lying next to me, my arm lightly held in his teeth as he looked at me.

"Thanks, Urz." I whispered.

Urz lowered his head letting go of my arm but stayed next to me as I reattached it. After a moment to make sure the old tech worked right, I reached into the crate pick up Sebastian's urn and carefully placed it among the various memorabilia.

I slowly drew my hair over my shoulder, "You were right, Sebastian. I did end up hating you for dying on me. I hated you for giving me your skills and memories just as much as I cherished each and every one."

I chuckled bitterly to myself, "They saved my life more than once, and I hated you for that too. If it wasn't for the guys, I would have found a way to finish what I started with Lung. I was so messed up back then, and then it got worse because then Nikos found me. I hated you for not being there to protect me. For not saving me from him. It was easier to blame you; to hate you than it was to face the hard truth."

I drew a cleansing breath, "You told me that you wished for time to be the man I deserved, but the harsh truth was, I wasn't the woman you needed or deserved. It took your memories for me to start to grasp just how damaged you were. You lived through so much pain and misery that it makes everything I've ever been through pale in comparison. Well. Maybe not anymore. But then, at least."

"I don't know if you could ever understand how devastated I was after I killed Nikos. Not because of what he did to me, or even for what I had to do, but because of what that shit made me face."

"You didn't deserve to have to live on my world," I whispered as fresh tears spilled from me. "You never should have been there. I was so selfish to want you there. So lost in my own pain I never through about how much all that was affecting you. I didn't deserve you. I didn't deserve your sacrifice. You were better off dead than alive and with me."

"It was always just kind of in the back of my mind until I faced Harbinger. But now I see it, now I understand and I'm going to make sure you never go to Earth Bet. I would rather that timeline never exist, than have you go through that again. Even if it means never having you enter my life at all. You deserve better, and I'm going to make sure you get it."

With a firm hand, I drew my knife across my hair cutting it off at my shoulders. The gentle breeze caressing the landscape sent short strands across my face while I laid the thick bunch into the grave.

My commitment. My sacrifice.

Rising to my feet, I summoned the omni drone again and set it to recover the hole while I set the last item in the crate at the head.

It was a simple looking sheet of metal that I took from the Normandy wreckage. While waiting on the girls to get back, I worked it over until it resembled the headstone it would serve as now clean and polished. It took me a moment to set it properly but when I was done, it was secured and wouldn't fall over no matter how fierce the winds got around here.

I sent the crate back to the shuttle while I stood silently as the drone finished it's task and winked out once again. I let my eyes drift over the words I etched into the metal for the final time.

 _A villain to some, A hero to many_

 _A man I didn't deserve but loved with all my heart_

 _Sebastian_

"Good-bye, Sebastian," I whispered. "I promise you, I will make things right. I will protect our friends; all of our friends. We'll stop the Reapers and build that better life for everyone we once talked about. Most of all, I swear to you I will stop whatever it was that sent you to Bet. I won't let you go through that again. No matter the cost."


	27. The Call 2

**The Call 5.2**

Soft, delicate music washed the interior of the shuttle in its pure tones. The lead vocalist voice - I couldn't even pronounce her name without mangling it, but I think she was salarian - was very soothing and the perfect accompaniment for the star studded view in front of me. The song itself described some beach that I guess was popular on Sur'Kesh, but not in a way that made it specific for just salarians. More like any beach that was special to whoever was listening in the audience. For me, it reminded me of a few times I'd visited the beach in Brockton Bay. Some with Dad, a couple with Mom.

Once with Sebastian.

I opened my eyes pulling myself from the song long enough to make sure I was still on course. I spent pretty much the whole trip back like this. Decompressing and relaxing. Mostly to different music when I had extranet access. Still, even with the inconvenience of spotty connections due to lack of functional, or any, buoys in this region of the Terminus, I still found plenty to enjoy. There was a lot to choose from, but a reprogrammed VI took care of the searches and so far I was pretty happy with the section it came up with. I'd have to show them to Paige when I got back.

It was nice.

Urz didn't seem to mind, I think he actually rather liked a few of them. It made me wonder just how well he understood words, or if it was just that he liked the tones. I should probably do an extranet search on varren one of these days. Then again, Urz didn't seem typical from what I remembered of his species.

My readouts told me I was still on course about to enter the asteroid field that surrounded Omega. Adjusting my seat, my fingers started moving over the interface deactivating the auto pilot and letting me manually pilot the shuttle. I was only twenty minutes away now. That in mind, I activated the com system for the first time since I left.

" _Normandy,_ this is the shuttle _Dragonfly_ requesting course for docking."

" _Copy_ Dragonfly _set…_

" _Taylor! Thank God you're back."_

" _Hey, you can't just yank a comm line from a guy like that!"_

" _Shut up, Joker or I'll have Paige make you do the Monster Mash through the CIC while I take pictures!"_

" _You know, maybe you should talk to Kelly about some of these issues you have. Seriously, does Miguel know…"_

" _Get off the line, Joker!"_

" _Geez, and I thought you were supposed to be the nice one..."_

My shuttle banked avoiding one of the many asteroids that flooded this area as I asked, "Ah, something up, Sharee?"

To my left, a window popped up giving me video of Sharee turning back to the camera. For a just a moment she stared at me gobsmacked, whatever had her frazzled enough to yell at Joker forgotten. " _What the hell happened to your_ hair _?"_

"Hair explanation later," I replied before asking a question of my own. "What's going on that has you threatening Joker?"

" _There's a gang war on Omega!"_

"Okay. There's always someone fighting on Omega," I pointed out needlessly. "It's _Omega_."

" _Shepard started it and now we can't get him out!"_ Sharee shouted.

I blinked. For a full three count I stared at Sharee's frazzled image. I didn't turn away until I the proximity alarms went off and I had to adjust course again. Taking a deep breath, I pushed my fingers upward on the display, kicking the thrusters to max. The shuttle jerked getting a squawk from Urz before the internal dampers adjusted to my full burn toward the station.

"From the beginning."

" _Shepard, Liara, and Uber went to talk to Dr. Solus,"_ Sharee started to explain. " _Things were fine until some Blue Sun mercs showed up at Dr. Solus's clinic trying to run a protection racket. Shepard shot them."_

"Okay; following you so far," I said keeping my eyes on the screens in front of me while waving my hand in a gesture to continue.

" _They sent more thinking it was Dr. Solus. Uber said according to some of the patients there, he kind of had a reputation for doing that kind of thing."_

I nodded. That fit what I remembered about the old salarian. It would have grated against his pride to let himself be shook down like that and it wasn't like he couldn't take care of himself.

" _Then Shepard shot those guys."_

"Of course he did."

" _That was when the mechs showed up."_

"And Shepard shot them too."

" _Yeah. So they sent a gunship."_

"Uh-huh."

" _And Shepard shot that."_

"Right. I take it this story doesn't have a happy ending?"

Sharee snorted, shaking her head. " _That was when whoever is running those mercs decided that Dr. Solus and his hired muscle needed to go. Permanently. So he mobilized_ All _of the Blue Suns in Gozu, and sent_ them. _The Blood Pack showed up thinking the Suns were trying to push in on their piece of the Slums."_

"Fuck me."

" _It get's better."_

"Oh," I muttered. " _Joy._ "

" _The fight ended up becoming a huge block war that took over all of Kokomo Plaza before spilling over into Benzine, which borders Kima District. At that point Eclipse joined in trying to keep the fighting out of Kima but all it did was turn the situation into a HUGE free-for-all. Mechs, gunships and troops have been joining the fight from all over Omega in support of whichever side they're aligned with. And that doesn't even account for everyone else with a gun who started shooting when the others did!"_

Cursing internally, I asked, "So what did Shepard do after he kicked off his reenactment of the Skyllian Blitz?"

" _As soon as things started getting out of hand they started evacuating civilians."_ Sharee answered. " _Or, they were until all the gunships turned that area into a no fly zone. Shepard led the civilians who didn't get away to one of Garrus's fall back spots on foot. Uber ended up getting separated from the main group trying to buy them time and is now playing hide and seek with the Sun's but hasn't been able to link back up with them yet. Last I heard was Garrus and a couple of his people met Shepard at the hideout but now they're stuck. The fighting is way too thick in the streets for the civilians. The only way out now is by air."_

I resisted the urge to growl, "Why do I think this isn't even the bad part?"

" _Um, well, Miranda had an idea…"_

"This should be good."

" _Well, she knew of a Cerberus Cell that was operating on Omega, so she left to get them and get the guys out. The plan was to create a big enough distraction for them to get out but someone sent troops to seal off all access to the rest of Gozu right after Miranda's team got started. Bulkheads and troops have the whole area locked down tight. The only physical access to that area now is through Kima, and now Miranda's kind of stuck too."_

 _Perfect._ "Who did she take with her?"

" _Just Jacob. Miranda didn't want anyone else but Cerberus people with her and Jacob was the only one with weapons training. We only kept techs. The last communique I got from her was that she lost most of those guys when the doors sealed and was trying to make her way to Shepard."_

 _We're going to have to talk about that later,_ I thought to myself as I continued burning full speed through the belt. "Alright, who's on deck on the Normandy?"

" _Yeah, that's kind of the other thing,"_ Sharee muttered. I felt my eye start twitching as the thinker seemed to gather her courage to explain. " _When all this started going down, Dinah was helping keep everyone going, but she had a backfire. She's in Med Bay now unconscious. Greg locked himself up in his workshop after you left and we haven't been able to get in there since and he's not answering us when we call him which leaves me and Paige running things on ship."_

"I was gone two days," I growled uselessly. "Two days!"

" _I'm sorry, but…"_

"No, I get it. Shepard. I should have known better," I shook my head, blowing out a frustrated breath. "Cortez still on ship? What's the status of the _Lex-talionis_?"

" _Yes, and the_ Lex-talionis _is good to go. We didn't have the supplies to start on it so after Cortez adjusted some of Uber's plans on the refit, he's been doing other stuff trying to get the cargo hold organized again."_

"Good, at least we have that going for us. Tell him grab that shuttle and meet me at the coordinates I just sent you."

" _What's the plan?"_

"Don't get killed," I deadpanned.

" _Please don't joke about that,"_ Sharee whispered. I spared just enough attention to look at her noticing the expression she wore. " _I've been worried about you."_

"I know," I smiled reassuringly before turning back to avoiding chunks of space rock. "But I'm fine. I'll see you after we get Shepard out of this hole he's dug for himself."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

I was still running hot when I arrived at the rendezvous where Cortez was waiting for me. Rounding a pylon I opened a comm channel. "Let's go, flyboy."

" _You know that area's hot with gunships, right Ma'am?"_

"That just means we're going to need to be faster."

I blew past his shuttle without slowing down; smirking as his shuttle lurched forward trying to catch up.

" _This might be a good time to state, gunships have weapons. We don't."_

"Details," I returned easily. "Small ones."

" _There is nothing small about Inferno PKR's or the twin M350 gatling they carry, Ma'am. This is practically a suicide run."_

My hands flew over the controls as I plotted our course entering Kima District. I only slowed long enough to get through the shielded port that would give us access to the interior of Omega. Slowed, but not stopped, much to the ire of the people we scattered as we tore through; exiting into the Omega skyline.

"Don't think of this so much as a suicide run. Instead think of it as an adventure and test of skill. Seriously, how often did the Alliance let you do something like this?"

" _I think that the fact the Alliance didn't let us do things like this speaks more to their merit than not, Ma'am,"_ Cortez dryly returned.

"You're such a downer, Cortez," I muttered.

Looking over the readout, there didn't look like there was going to be any easy way to do this. Omega wasn't designed, so much as just adapted to. To get to the crew, we were going to have to move through some pretty tight confines, and that didn't even account for any traffic or the aforementioned gunships. Swinging the nose of my shuttle where I wanted, I let the engines roar. Despite his objections, Cortez was right on my tail.

"You know you're having fun. It's okay to admit it; it's just you and me up here."

" _Combat drops are not supposed to be 'fun'."_

"You haven't done many Normandy combat drops have you, Cortez?" I asked. "Besides, this isn't a combat drop, we're doing rescue and retrieval."

Cortez muffled his snort but I still heard it over the comm line, " _Now who's quibbling over details, Ma'am?"_

I smiled until my screens showed three gunships heading our way. I quick increase in magnification showed Blue Sun colors and markings. That was quick. Must have been hunting Eclipse when they spotted us.

" _Company."_

"I see them, Cortez. Probably figure we're trying to reinforce Eclipse since this is their territory."

" _I don't see how that's going to keep us from getting shot at."_

"You worry too much."

Looking over the maps of the region, I cut power enough to flip the back thursters upward and shot down toward the clutter of buildings and machinery that was Kima. Reading my mind, or maybe he just had the same idea, Cortez matched me. Looks like it was going to be a harrowing ride from here out. Being farther out, they didn't have to pull the same maneuvers we did and managed to gain some ground.

" _I think I'm worried just the right amount considering the targeting locks that are lighting up my screens."_

"Just a bit further and we'll be in Kima. The tighter confines will help."

" _In what reality does that make sense?"_ The dour man countered. " _They have the maneuverability advantage. These shuttles weren't designed for this kind of flying. I'm actually pretty sure what we're doing wasn't anything close to what the designers had in mind as typical operating stressors when these shuttles were built."_

"Where's your spirit of adventure?" I asked while tracking the incoming ships behind us.

" _Where it usually is, back on the ship. Where it belongs."_

The gunships fired several rockets each at us trying to keep us from going forward. Urz whined as our shuttle moved side to side avoiding them. There was a moment where I had to completely flip us upside down and if not for the inertial dampeners I think the old varren would have really been upset. The one look I could spare him showed his coloring looking a bit off so it was a safe bet he wasn't happy.

Cortez easily dodged as well, but there was nothing either of us could do about the explosions erupting in front of us. Doing my best I cut power to the systems I could do without, I strengthened my barriers shooting through firestorm. Alarms rang within the cabin telling me I'd taken damage, but nothing critical.

A quick glance above me showed Cortez's shuttle looking a bit roughed up. "You alright?"

" _Bit singed, but good to go, Ma'am."_

"Good, because now comes the fun part."

" _Anyone ever tell you, you're insane Ma'am?"_

"Once or twice."

Cortez was right about the tighter confines working more against us than for us. It was everything I could do to keep the shuttle away from the various buildings, pylons, spikes, or bits of out stretched metal in the artificial trench we rocketed through while also avoiding Cortez's shuttle. And, of course, rounds from those gatlings he mentioned before. Those traced lines of ruin to either side of us as we kept moving as unpredictably as we could. About the only thing we had going for us in here was that at these speeds it was too tight for them to use rockets. Well, not without the possibility of catching themselves in the blasts meant for us.

"My varren flies better than that Cortez!" I razzed the other pilot while looping above him. His shuttle veered into the hole I opened as we continued our dangerous dance. "I thought you used to be a fighter pilot?"

" _Oh you did not just say that…"_

I laughed with all the adrenaline fueled insanity I had, as we broke from from the clutter and back into the open. The gunships no sooner cleared it before cutting loose. Screens blared; lighting up showing what looked like every rocket they had flying at us.

Eyes darting over my screens I micromanaged my thrusters the best I could considering I couldn't use my bugs. The shuttle rocked, juked, I even did this little rolling pirouette move by cutting two thrusters while overpowering the others. It made my stomach swirl sickly despite the dampeners but it let me avoid the raining death surrounding me. I was mostly successful, as I only took two hits while not losing too much speed before we hit the next tight stretch.

" _Nice moves, Ma'am,"_ Cortez grudgingly complimented me. " _Not bad at all."_

"You should see me on a motorcycle. Or a Skyliner," I weakly chuckled as I tried to get my stomach under control. "Give me something with bug control boards and I'll show you how it's really done."

" _If you say so. However, it does tell me why I was brought on board as the Normandy's shuttle pilot. I can see why the rest of the crew doesn't like it when you fly."_

"I'll have you know I haven't killed anyone with my driving that I didn't intend to."

Once again we burned as fast as we dared dodging everything from buildings to the occasional air car. Thankfully, there weren't many of those in the air. Especially as I barely managed to avoid hitting the last one. I barely managed to roll the shuttle around it when it came around the side of a building and stopped. As I blew past him, my windshield missing his by mere inches, I swore I could heard the guy screaming.

" _Noted. Though I did hear a story about you, a shuttle called the_ Trident _, and something about a guy named Transit?"_

"You've been talking to Uber," I grumbled. "That wasn't my fault!"

" _Of course, Ma'am."_ Cortez placated. " _That building teleported there all by itself."_

It actually did, but I'm pretty sure Uber didn't mention that bit to Cortez. Instead of correcting him and sounding like a crazy woman, I kept adjusting my course while avoiding gunfire and other hazardous obstructions we were flying through. I'd plan my revenge on Uber for telling stories later when people weren't trying to kill me.

The area we were flying through started to widen up giving me a bad feeling as I looked at the formation behind us shift. The lead gunship surged forward while the other two pulled back confirming my thoughts. The following spread of rockets cemented it.

There was no where to go in here, and that was _a lot_ of rockets.

Cursing; I threw my shuttle in the path, shielding Cortez. Impacts against my kinetic barriers jarred the shuttle ridiculously and it was everything I could do to keep my shuttle in the air.

" _Hebert!"_

"I'm fine, Cortez. You know where to go?"

" _Yes, Ma'am, but..."_

"No 'but's'," I knew even without the readouts screaming at me that I was done. I wasn't getting much farther with this kind of damage. "Get to Shepard and get them out of there! I'll be fine."

My speed bled out almost as quickly as smoke filling the cabin. Sparks shot from broken panels all around me while my vid screen fizzed in and out making it hard to even know where I was going. Parts of the shuttle burned, something not helped by the mass accelerated rounds being shot into me adding to the damage. I quickly plotted out where I would put down before I made my last play.

I ejected the damaged thruster sending it flying behind me right into the gunship that shot me down. I had just enough time to see it explode before the shuttle started spinning out of control. A quick look behind me showed Urz scrambling around trying to keep his feet, and failing badly. Redirecting all available power I had left I wrapped him in the field meant to protect passengers in the advent of a crash.

With nothing left, I grabbed a hold of my safety harness with both hands and waited for the world to stop spinning.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

The world was still spinning when I regained consciousness. At least it still felt like it was. I was also, apparently, upside down. Closing my eyes, I moaned at the revolting sensation while working on my breathing to settle my stomach. No matter how many times you do something like that, it never gets any easier, nor bearable. The stench of burnt circuitry didn't help with my nausea, but in the brief moment I looked around it didn't look like I was going to burn to death. Which was always a plus. No telling how long I was out, but it thankfully didn't look like it was very long.

I felt Urz nuzzle the side of my face; cooning softly. Opening my eyes again things had finally settled enough that my eyes were no longer dancing in their sockets. The cabin was dark, the only light coming from where the right side door used to be. Must have lost it somewhere in crash. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. Hopefully Cortez made it.

I reached out and rubbed Urz letting him know I was alright. However, we didn't have long to celebrate our survival.

A man's voice, obviously filtered through some kind of helmet, broke the silence. "There it is."

"That's not an Eclipse shuttle."

"Doesn't matter," a third voice said. "Check for survivors so we can get the hell out of here before Eclipse does show up."

A pair of heavy boots steadily drew closer. Taking stock of my limited options I realized there was no way I was going to get to the crate and get it open before the merc found me. One hand on the latch for the safety harness keeping me suspended, and the other pulling my knife, I waited until he was right outside of the opening.

"I think I hear something," the masculine voice stated as the owner's hand grasped the side of the shuttle doorway.

"Kill him."

"Copy th…" My knife burying itself into his helmet's lens ended the Blue Suns merc's sentence, as well as his life.

"Blake!"

I hit the latch letting my body fall to the shuttle ceiling. As quickly as I could I scrambled from my awkward landing for the crate I packed before leaving Mindoir, cursing my luck when I saw it was upside down. I threw my weight behind my desperate pull to right the crate enough to open it.

Too slow, I realized when the second Sun's merc appeared. Stepping over who I assumed was Blake, he raised the barrel of his rifle at me. The hateful snarl on his face said all that needed to be said about what was going to happen in the next moment. My answering smirk as I struggled to finish tipping over the crate made the man across from me pause just one second too long.

Urz lunged from where he was skulking right next to the inner shuttle wall, wrapping his teeth around the batarian's arm. His harsh scream sounded impossibly loud within our confines nearly blanking out gunfire from his rifle. I flinched as rounds stitched a line diagonally across the crate, barely missing me, and shooting up the wall behind me before Urz's bite forced him to drop it.

I lost sight of Urz dragging the man deeper into the shuttle when the crate finally tipped over. As well as my balance so I didn't know the last man entered until I heard him cursing. By the time I got my feet back under me again, he fired on Urz.

"Fucker!" I shouted slamming my hand over the locking icon.

Surprised, he turned to fire on me but my bugs were faster. It gave me a moment of pure sadistic glee when all four of his eyes widened comically as he realized he just shot the wrong woman's dog. His following scream was easily lost to the drone of insect wings and hungry asrids but that only lasted a second before they started digging into his face and armor. Then his screams were of pain. Lots and lots of pain.

The merc shuffled away, his agony apparent to anyone within a full block of the fight. He tried in vain to swat away my swarm before Urz's body slammed into him carrying them both outside. Seeing the guy on the ground still alive, I rushing forward kicking him as hard as I could in the head. Ignoring the batarians moan, I took his side arm from his hip; shooting him once before following the screams outside. Urz had him by the leg and didn't look like he planned to let him go any time soon. His head shaking back and forth so fast I could barely follow the varren's movements.

I shot him, putting him out of his misery. Those asrids went through Collectors like butter and that guy wasn't nearly that tough. Not to mention, angry Urz.

Looking around I didn't see any other threats but to be safe, I sent my fastest movers scouting. "Come here, Urz."

I wasn't sure he'd listen, but thankfully he did instantly letting go of the dead merc and trotting up to me. I took a knee next to him, checking him over finding where he was hit. A single round had penetrated his flank but it didn't look that bad. It wasn't pouring blood nor did it look like I would have expected. Urz certainly didn't look that upset. Just the opposite, he looked like he did on Mindoir when he was playing on the mesa. Whatever his injury, it certainly didn't seem to be affecting him.

"You're a tough bastard, aren't you boy?" I muttered as I scratched him along his spines.

Urz's eyes sparkled brightly looking exactly like a puppy who'd done good. Bloody muzzle and giant teeth aside.

I shook my head, just thankful he was fine while taking a good look at the area where I'd crashed.

I was aiming for a rooftop, but looking around I knew I missed it. By the look of the ruined area, I figured I must have crashed into either the building I was trying for, or one around it. The floor I was on didn't look like it was used for anything, or if it had been it was a long time ago and people had already cleared it out. I could easily see where my shuttle entered. I stumbled over to the gaping hole.

Yeah, I missed my landing by a lot. I was only three floors from street level and that roof top I aimed for was a lot higher than that. I must have dropped like a brick after I kicked loose that thruster. We were lucky to be alive. Made me want to invest in whoever designed the Kodiak line of shuttles, they knew their shit.

I sent fliers outward to get a better feel for the area but I could see without them there was some kind of checkpoint blocking me off from advancing. Eclipse probably. Looking upward I caught sight of three gunships race by. Maybe chasing the Blue Sun's that shot me down. That or just looking over the area to make sure they got them all. I could hear enough gunfire in the area to know they were having troubles holding it.

Movement caught my attention in the building directly across from me. There staring at me through a huge plexiglass window, stood what looked like a family riding out the gang war by staying indoors. All three looked at me with wide eyes and slack jawed expressions.

I took a good look at myself. Somehow I managed to rip the front of my dress and it looked like the area around my legs was burnt here and there. I also lost one of my heels somewhere. Looking back up I wondered what they found more odd. That I was surrounded in flying bugs, that I just killed several mercs, or that it was done by a girl in dress with her pet varren.

They were still staring stunned at me when I looked back at them. Chuckling self mockingly at myself, I gave them a jaunty wave and wide smile as I turned away.

It was going to be a long walk to the guys, but at least it wouldn't be boring.


	28. The Call 3

**The Call Story Arc: 5.3**

Tapping into a power line was simple. Generally something every engineering student learned within the their first few days in school. The process was so simple that it could be done with the most basic of tools, easily fabricated from an omni tool. Even doing it without those tools was possible, just required a bit of care and a willingness to get shocked once or twice. However, issues arose when messing around with tinkertech you didn't personally create and barely understood the principles of.

Issues, like the sparks that shot outwards from my arm. I winced, narrowing my eyes, then relaxing when the small emitter powered up and the sparks ceased. A small static charge erupted around me momentarily, and I tried moving my fingers. There was a definite loss in fine motor control.

Well, there was no help for it. Nothing I could do about it, with my omni tool damaged in the crash.

Below me a group of four that I'd noticed earlier had finally moved deeper into the building. They were moving slowly. Their caution showed that they obviously had more experience than your average thug. Well, they knew enough to be cautious, and on Omega, if you were alive that meant you were fresh meat, or you'd been around long enough to have learned the rules.

No idea who they were, but they moved like this wasn't their first rodeo. They also weren't friendly with Eclipse or the Suns judging by the firefight they just finished. Rival gang? Maybe. Omega had a lot of gangs.

Even though I couldn't tell exactly which group these guys were fighting, I had my money on Eclipse. They held this area and had the most reason for investigating. Aside from the group of Suns who landed to scout my shuttle, I'd yet to see anything to suggest they had more than a toe hold here, but I've been wrong before, so grain of salt and all that.

It was more likely that these guys were part timers. Kind of like a group of villains who kept the peace in an area for kickbacks or just because they lived there. I know we did that a few times when we were in an area for a while. It was actually more common on Bet than people there realized.

What I really couldn't figure out was why these four were risking their lives venturing into a gang war like this. It didn't make any sense, unless they thought there was something to gain. Right now, it looked like they thought _I_ was that something.

My head tilted at the idea that line of thought gave me.

Keeping track of them, I watched them move through the first floor. At the glacial pace they were proceeding at I had some time before they got here. I rolled up my glove to hide my prosthetic, watching as they figured out the elevator didn't work and immediately started searching for the stairs.

My window for salvaging anything useful off the dead mercs had closed. Not that there was anything really worthwhile to salvage. The Blue Suns were without a doubt well equipped no question. Assault rifles, shotguns, a side arm each, and body armor painted in their colors of blue and white. Their insignia proudly displayed on their chest plates. A professional look that fit with their ideology of being 'Professional Soldiers of Fortune'. However, I wouldn't call their gear exceptional.

While each suit of armor had the versatility to handle a majority of environments, easily every conceivable environment a 'security company' might field troops on, they were only barely adequate. Something I easily noticed when I was digging out that shield emitter to co-opt.

Even their armaments were only average. Easy to reload, decent punch, good weapons, but ultimately just basic. Dependable and reliable. They did have the benefit of being incredibly cheap and easy to acquire though. Something that would appeal to a merc band the size of the Blue Suns when equipping its lower ranks, though I bet the fact that Hahne-Kedar had roots in the merc scene before they went mega conglomerate probably helped. Worse, I didn't notice a single mod or any personalization on these weapons. To me, it basically translated that their commander expected them to be killed.

Bet the Suns didn't put that on their recruiting posters.

Looking through my bugs, I checked on the four below me. They'd just arrived on the second floor and were disarming a booby trap left behind by the two Eclipse they were chasing, but that escaped from them in the firefight earlier.

Climbing to my feet, I made my way deeper into the building, while I moved my bugs into position. Two mercs from the first group just finishing trapping the stairwell. Before they managed to do more than get their bearings, every trap they placed between them and the four behind them; triggered. It cost me a few of my asrids, but they were dead before they even realized there was a problem.

While I waited for the four to arrive, I walked over to one of the smoking corpses, taking in the yellow and black color scheme that blatantly signified that they were, in fact, Eclipse. Looking them over showed there wouldn't be much to salvage from these guys either. Less that the prior group thanks to the explosion.

"Hey, don't move!" A voice shouted from behind me.

"They were dead when I got here!" I immediately shouted back, keeping still.

It was quiet behind me for several moments, before I head the deep rumble that signified the turian in their group, "Turn around."

Slowly, so the guy pointing a rifle at me wouldn't get spooked, I turned, raising my hands. The one holding me up was human; maybe my age, if not a bit older. Thankfully, none were dressed as either a Blue Sun or Eclipse.

His eyes locked on me, while the turian next to him took in the area looking for threats. The other two were just behind them, still hidden around the corner, but from what I was seeing of these two, I think my guess on non-aligned mercs was correct.

It didn't take the turian long to spot a threat. Urz stalked forward, silently opening his mouth, showing off every single one of his sharp teeth. Before the turian could raise his rifle and fire on him, I stepped in front of him shouting, "Don't shoot him!"

"Why not?" The turian asked. "Probably some dead Blood Pack's pet…"

"No he's not. He's my boyfriend's show varren." I answered, ignoring the way even Urz turned to look at me.

"Show… varren?" Another human muttered as he joined the other two. "People seriously do that?"

The fourth of their group -a pale, tan skinned salarian- just blinked at my explanation.

I nodded. "He's Prince Grimrender of Gembat. Look, I don't know if these guys were friends of yours, but they were like that when I got here."

The blond holding me up snorted, but my answer came from the brunette behind him.

"Notice the lack of yellow and black body armor," he grumbled. "Though I expected more from them considering how much trouble they gave us earlier."

"Yeah," The blond muttered. "Just be glad these guys ice'd themselves. Their buddies below gave us a hell of a fight. Jarrod's been on the warpath ever since his brother died. His people have been getting more and more erratic ever since so I'm not surprised they screwed up here."

"You were in the shuttle that crashed?" The salarian asked me.

"Yes."

"Where's your pilot?"

"I don't know," I answered. "I blacked out when we hit. When I woke up, it was just Prince Grimrender and me. He might have tried to get to Solomon, thinking we were safe in the shuttle. That was where we were heading when we got shot down."

"Who is Solomon, and why were you trying to get to him?" The human not pointing a weapon at me asked.

"Solomon's my boyfriend. He was here on business when all this started."

"And you are?"

"Allison."

"There were two shuttles; what was yours carrying?"

"Just Prince and me. Before you ask, I don't know what the other one was carrying. The only thing I know is that we were going to pick up Solomon when the Blue Suns gunships started shooting at us."

"Spirits," the turian grumbled. "We fought our way all the way up here, and instead of finding something valuable we end up with some idiot's pet...and his _mistress_."

"Can I lower my arms now?" I asked uncertainly no commenting on the not so subtle implied insult.

Sighing, the one holding me at rifle point nodded, lowering his weapon as he turned to the turian. "Fuck. What now?"

"We get out of here," he answered. "Before the Eclipse send another squad."

"What about the girl?"

Snarling in disgust, the turian turned away heading back the way they entered, "This was a waste of time and she's dead weight. Let's go."

"Wait, you can't just leave us here," I stated, a tinge of desperation coloring my voice.

"She's right," the salarian said. "We should probably kill her. It would be better than what Eclipse would do to her when they find her. Especially since she can identify us should they question her. Jarrod has always been... enthusiastic about his interrogations."

The other three paused as they considered it. I broke the awkward silence, "Hey, come on now, let's not be hasty."

The humans looked at me, guiltily. The turian seemed to have little remorse but since he was working with two humans, I was pretty sure it wasn't a race thing. As for the salarian; he didn't really seem to care one way or the other. Just seemed frustrated at the lack of payoff for the trouble they'd gone through.

"Don't listen to her, Biggs. Dammit, she's just going to get us killed if we take her along. Remember what happened to Merrick? And Sengua?" Wedge asked.

"This is different. She's an innocent girl, stuck in the middle of a _real_ shitty place. She shouldn't have to die here." Biggs argued.

"What, so you play hero and get a kiss on the cheek? _Again?_ " the Turian commented snidely. "I don't know why I stick with you sentimental humans."

The blond smirked as he turned to his companion, "Aww, you know why. You just won't admit it, but you read raunchy romance novels when we're not around, and cry during Fleet and Flotilla!"

The turian's mandibles tightened along his face as he growled, "You doctored that holo…"

"It's okay, Tiberitus," Biggs mockingly placated. "You don't have to lie to us anymore. There's no shame in being a big softie; we'll still respect you."

Despite myself, I found myself liking these guys.

"Twenty thousand," I interrupted. Predictably, all four turned to me. "You guys came up here looking for a score, right? Get Prince and me to Solomon, and I'll be your score."

"Our original mission has nothing to do with this. It has priority." the Salarian insisted snobbishly.

The turian kept his attention -and his raptor like eyes- on me. "For twenty thousand credits, I'm pretty sure even a human can buy a new mistress. I'm no judge of your species, but for that kind of money, I'm sure he could do better, even on Omega. So what makes you think your man will pay that much for _you?_ "

Instead of being insulted, I shrugged it off, "I never said he would pay it for _me,_ but Solomon really likes Prince Grimrender. He'll pay it for his varren. However, Prince doesn't listen to anyone except for Solomon or me, so you'll need me to get your payday."

The silence between us stretched for a few more moments, before Biggs looked to the others, "An extra five grand each, that's good money for a drop off."

Eye's still on me, Tiberitus asked, "Depends on where she expects us to take her. So where is that?"

"A hidden bunker not far from Zara Plaza."

"That's Archangel's territory," the Salarian pointed out.

"Archangel's not that bad, Jamaat," Biggs argued. "Besides, he's never come after us. What do you think, Wedge?"

"We've never given him a reason. We stay out of his way, and he stays out of ours," Wedge agreed. "Still, that area's crawling in Blood Pack and Blue Suns right now."

Jamaat nodded, "Worse than that, Gram and Tarak are both leading their people personally, according to the communications I've intercepted."

"Yeah, and let's be realistic here," Wedge said. "Gram's personal troops are the kind of guys that make an ass rape look like a good time. You guys know I'm all for risking my life, but I'm very particular about my asshole."

"Well, couldn't we pretend we're one of them?" Biggs suggested, gesturing to the uniforms of the dead.

"And have Archangel kill us?" Jamaat scoffed. "We're not actually considering this are we?"

Tiberitus stayed quiet while Wedge shrugged. So far only Biggs seemed to be on my side.

"Twenty thousand is a lot, but not enough for the risk," Tiberitus said. "How about for ten thousand, we get you back to somewhere safe like the hotels near afterlife, and then your boytoy can pay us when he gets you and the mutt there."

'Grimrender' growled menacingly, and the turian flinched.

"He's extracting," I mentioned lowering my hand to Urz to pacify him. "That was what our shuttles were for. He's only going to wait around long enough to either confirm we're dead, or for another shuttle to make it to him. If you want the money, we have to go to him."

Jamaat whined. "Seriously!? Didn't you just say she was dead weight, Tiberitus? And no guarantee we'll actually get anything, even if we somehow did make it!"

"True," Tiberitus slowly agreed. "But Zara Plaza isn't very far, and it's not like the gangs are entrenched."

"You're actually considering this?" The salarian looked disgusted.

"I am," the turian stated. "Just because there is a block war between us, doesn't mean it can't be done... _if_ we can migrate the risk. We don't have to fight them, just get around them."

"The maintenance tunnels?" Wedge asked.

Tiberitus nodded, "They go everywhere through the whole station. The trick would be navigating them to get where we want to go."

"I could help with that. I have a good sense of direction and I'm a decent hacker if we come across any sealed doors." The four looked surprised, and I rolled my eyes, "My boyfriend's a mercenary commander. I do have skills other than the taking care of Prince Grimrender."

"I bet," Wedge chuckled. "I just wouldn't have thought hacking would have been on that list."

Jamaat turned to Tiberitus, "What about the original mission? Krocress isn't going to be happy with us if we're late. Or dead, and his item is lost somewhere in Omega's underbelly. He _really_ wants that data file."

"Fuck Krocress," Wedge cursed. "That guy's never played us straight."

"Yeah. Besides, Krocress hates Archangel, while this girl's boyfriend has an in with him," Biggs pointed out. "I bet Archangel will pay more for the info. If nothing else, we could use the good will with his team. Archangel's never double-crossed anyone and he's good to civilians. You can't say that about Krocress. Plus, I feel kinda bad about gathering intel on his people like we did."

Huh. I thought. Wasn't _that_ interesting. The comment tickled something at the back of my mind, but I lost my train of thought when the salarian snarked, "Biggs, you are the dumbest human – no, _person –_ I've ever met. You don't even know him!"

"Yeah, but he's the one of the few good thing that's ever come to Omega…" Biggs muttered.

"Quit bickering, you Spirits be damned idiots," Tiberitus interjected, annoyed. "I'm all for screwing Krocress over. You know he would do the same to us, if it was valuable to him. Are we doing this or not?"

Biggs nodded first, then Wedge. Jamaat seemed to be the sole hold out, when Tiberitus turned to him.

"This isn't what I signed up for when you hired me, Tiberitus," Jamaat groused.

"I hired you to help us earn," the turian growled. "Twenty thousand credits is a serious pay off. That's three times more than we usually make from our clients. Do you want in, or not?"

Gunfire blared in the distance. The two humans and the turian didn't even flinch. I tracked the firefight, while I waited to see how this was going to play out. So far it didn't look like it would bother us, but better safe than shot.

Jamaat shook his head, "No, this is a stupid idea."

"Fine," Tiberitus grunted. "Then we'll split it three ways instead of four."

"Good luck doing that when you're dead," Jamaat spat, turning around and walking away.

"Think he'll fuck us over?" Wedge asked, when Jamaat was out of sight.

"No," Tiberitus answered. "Jamaat is a sour son-of-a-bitch, but he wouldn't sell us out."

Biggs unclipped his pistol, handing it to me, "Do you know how to use one of these, Allison?"

"A little," I replied, taking the Carnifex and holding it awkwardly, playing up the act. I was happy to see that these guys at least took some pride in their weapons. It wasn't just well maintained, but it was also modded with an extended barrel, and what looked like a stun module.

Shaking his head, Biggs corrected my grip, "Hold it like this. Keep your finger here, and be careful where you point it, alright? Remember, this is is the dangerous end. Only point that at the bad people."

"Thanks," I said, giving the brunette my best innocent smile. "I'll keep that in mind."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

It turned out the maintenance tunnels were more of a hive than what my thoughts on a tunnel would be. Damage from who knew what, irregular repairs, and people adding or taking out sections over time created a virtual maze for us to navigate. That, and I think it smelled worse down here, than it did up top, even if the aromas of Omega came in just about every flavor of nasty that could be imagined.

And more, I thought as I scrunched my nose at what smelled like a combination of rotting meat sprinkled in sewage.

Our progress was fairly slow, and even with my bugs scouting out of sight, we had to backtrack several times. I kept pushing them to map out the area for us, but even with the delays, we still moved faster than my bugs. Still, we were making progress, and no one was shooting at us. Better, assuming the current branch ahead of us panned out, I wasn't long from finding us a route to where Shepard was holding up.

I couldn't wait to get out of here. After this was done, and I got back to the ship, I know my first stop was going to be a long and thorough decontamination, followed by a sonic shower.

Or three.

Tiberitus with his superior night vision had point, followed by Wedge. Urz and I were in the middle with Biggs walking behind me. Tiberitus didn't talk much, just low grumbles to Wedge who only said something if he found something on his omni tool. Biggs spoke more than enough to cover for everyone.

"...iend get it for you?"

Biggs' comment kicked me from my thoughts of getting clean, "What?"

Smiling shyly, Biggs repeated, "I said that's a really nice dress. Did your boyfriend get it for you?"

I blinked, before looking at myself. My dress currently had a rip through the midsection, the hem was stained from centuries of filth that coated the floors we've traveled over, and that didn't even account for the smoke and fire damage from the crash, or my brief brush with the Blue Suns.

In short, it was completely ruined. Something I'd been trying to not think about until now. "No. It's something I picked up on Earth a few years ago."

"Oh. Well, it's nice."

"Spirits save me," I heard Tiberitus grumble ahead of us.

"Thanks," I awkwardly returned.

"Is this really the time for that?" Wedge asked, exasperated.

"Hey it's a legitimate question. There's a story behind a girl wearing something like that. I'm trying to find out a little about our client," Biggs replied defensively. "Plus the tears in it make her look hot."

I turned from the tunnel, leveling my gaze at him.

"What?" Biggs asked. "It's a perfectly acceptable compliment."

"Thanks, I guess," I couldn't help the slightest genuine flush, which annoyed me.

"Shut up," Tiberitus hissed. "I heard something."

Wedge moved forward taking a knee next to the turian, "What did you hear?"

"Not sure, but I think it was a yell."

"In our tunnel?" Wedge muttered.

"Maybe."

"Suns or Pack?" He continued.

"Shut up!" Tiberitus hissed, quieting the man..

Silence reigned over the group. It wasn't anything for them to worry about, but there wasn't any way I could say so that they would believe. Sort of hard to explain how I knew a Blood Pack vorcha died in a tunnel that connected behind us. There were actually quite a few of them running around, but I was only concerning myself with those that posed a risk.

"We should keep moving; we're not far now. Only a hundred and fifty yards," I said.

"How do you know?" Biggs asked.

"I told you, I have a good sense of direction. We should be under Zara Plaza now. If we take the right hand tunnel ahead, then we should be close to the blast partitions for the bunker."

Tiberitus turned to look at me. "Going right takes us in the wrong direction."

"Solomon says the key to a really good hideout is misdirection."

Wedge nodded, "She's got a point."

The turian huffed, but brought his rifle back to his shoulder. "Keep it down; I don't think we're alone down here."

"I think I saw this in a vid once," The human behind him chuckled as he advanced. "Hopefully this ends better than it did in the movie."

"How did it go?" I couldn't help but ask.

"The usual. Monster picks off a few people, the cast finds their mangled bodies later. The token minority gets eaten in an embarrassing way somewhere. Eventually they kill the monster and barely get away with their lives."

I could see Tiberitus's fringe shuffle slightly from where I was in the line. Though if that was from being our groups 'token minority' or for the fate of the fantasy team I couldn't tell. "A nice image to have as we move through the creepy partially illuminated tunnel."

"Don't worry, the heroine always makes it," Wedge assured me mockingly. "Well, most of the time anyway."

I shook my head, following them as they took the right turn I mentioned. Walking next to me, Biggs smiled, "Don't listen to Wedge, he's just looking to rile you up."

"It's fine. Solomon's people are fairly colorful. I'm used to it," I returned. "You guys been working together long?"

"A while," Biggs answered. "Wedge and I for longer. Came to Omega together looking for work a few years back, but we only teamed up with Tiberitus a few months later. He's gruff, but a good guy."

"Solomon always say's the key to a good team is the people. With the right people, there isn't much a team can't do."

"I'd agree with that. Tiberitus has gotten us through some fairly hard jobs…"

"Biggs, come here a second," Wedge interrupted.

"Something wrong?" I asked as Biggs immediately started moving up.

Wedge shook his head, waving me down, "Found a fresh body. Just sit tight for a moment."

Nodding, I knelt down next to Urz. The three of them moved forwards a bit. For privacy I assumed, as they were whispering. I didn't have enough bugs on them to hear what they were saying, but I didn't need to. The body they found was one my swarm took out twenty minutes ago, when he blundered into it.

Keeping my eyes on the mercs, I concentrated on the bugs I had out of sight, but so far the tunnels were empty of threats.

Very empty, now that I thought about it. These tunnels were crawling with Blood Pack a few moments ago.

A shiver that shot up my spine, and I pulled bugs I had set behind us to advance ahead. Only keeping just enough to make sure no one could sneak up on us. The rest I sent out, trying to find those wayward figures I sensed earlier.

And failing.

"You okay?" The words broke my concentration, and I blinked.

"Huh?" I very coherently murmured.

Biggs smiled, and I blinked again to clear away my confusion. "I asked if you were alright? You were frowning, like you had a headache or something."

"I'm fine," I lied. "What about the body?"

Biggs shook his head, and we started moving again, "Dead Blood Pack. Might even be the guy Tiberitus thought he heard earlier."

"What happened to him?"

"No idea," Biggs answered. "But I know he wasn't shot, stabbed, or mauled by a varren, which pretty much covers the majority of ways to die on Omega."

The pace picked up, with even Biggs keeping quiet as we advanced. We didn't come across anymore bodies, but instead of being reassuring to these guys, they seemed more agitated. It wasn't until we were only a few minutes away from the blast doors that Tiberitus cracked first.

"It's Spirit's damned too quiet," he muttered.

"Fuck you," Wedge muttered as he checked a side passage. "You know better than to say that kind of thing when we're working."

"Human superstition," Tiberitus groused looking around. "And that doesn't mean I'm wrong. Something killed that vorcha back there, but where is it now?"

"Remember you asked that, when I leave your ass for the monster."

"There isn't any damned monster…" Tiberitus grunted.

"Quiet," I ordered, drawing three surprised looks.

"Wha..." Biggs tried to ask, before I shushed him again.

The figure I sensed wasn't far from us. Only two tunnels over. I really didn't have anything good to work with in that area, there weren't any connecting tunnels, so I wasn't concerned for us. What really concerned me was that he was huge.

And not alone.

The lead krogan swatted at my meager swarm, while the one next to him grumbled something. Two others were working over something at the wall in front of them, while a mix force of krogan, vorcha, and varren waited. What they were waiting for became obvious, when the two at the wall suddenly started running away from it.

"Get down!"


	29. The Call 4

**The Call 5.4**

I couldn't tell which was worse, the filth in the air dislodged from the walls, picking myself up off the floor after being sent flying, or the aches from my collision with the wall. The one thing I was absolutely sure of was that if I got blown up again today someone was going to get murdered in the most horrific way I could come up with.

I _hated_ getting blown up. So frustrating.

That in mind I was the first to my feet. I only staggered a few steps before regaining my balance. Pelting down the hall I noticed only Urz had regained his feet to keep pace.

Behind me Wedge shouted, "Hey, where the hell are you going?"

Ignoring him, I ran the short distance to the blast door that separated me from the team. The Blood Pack troops were already moving through the breach they made on their side. There wasn't any way Shepard's group couldn't have heard or felt that. There was no telling what the situation was topside, but someone was down here shooting at them from what I could see through the few bugs that followed the Pack. I thought about sending enough to find out who but I had a feeling I was going to need every bug down here soon.

Stupid, I knew better than to keep what was available so close. I sighed, my fault for letting my lack of armaments dominate my thinking. I knew better than that, I should have kept a small swarm topside, just in case or so that I could talk to the guys above. Instead I pulled all I could down here to map the tunnels.

Well, no help for it now.

While Omega had their own resident bug population of varying types, it was still a space station. Sealed metallic walls didn't give me a lot of room to maneuver them without making it dead obvious something was making them act weird.

For most of the caches of bugs my power found that I could move with ease, I did. But with this latest development I had to give up having them spread out for a wider picture. I needed every bug either with me in this tunnel, or in the one the Pack used.

Maybe I was being too paranoid. It wasn't like people in this galaxy would immediately jump to the conclusion there was a bug controlling cape nearby or something. That and I -and by extension my powers- were nowhere near as well known as they were on Bet so maybe I was playing it too cautious. Still, it was possible and when I could I always tried to err on the side of caution, but that was little comfort to me right now. Right now, I need a swarm I could work with, even if I had to limit myself to small scale tactics until I could get them massed properly.

'I'm never leaving the ship unarmed and without the Instant Swarm Box again', I thought. _Ever._

The interface panel for the blast door was red. A quick look at its small display showed that it had been locked from the other side. It made sense, and was what I would have done in Garrus' place, but that wasn't going to get me inside. Keeping only the really nasty bugs hidden in my dress with me, I sent every last bug I could to mass near the breach the Pack made. I'd need them in a moment.

As the others joined me, I considered my options; not that there were many. "I don't suppose any of you happen to have about twenty kilos of quality explosives on you right now? Preferably in a shaped charge?"

Tiberitus's strong hand grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around, "Listen you…"

I locked eyes with Tiberitus giving him my _full_ attention.

A slight shift in balance; my pistol brought upward, barrel under his mandible. The surprised turian would freeze. Biggs and Wedge would probably train weapons on me then. Wouldn't matter if they did with my hostage between us though. Even if they were crack shots, Tiberitus's barriers would protect me long enough to blow his head off the second they tried anything.

I bet the sudden appearance of even my meager swarm would make them pause. These were tight confines and people didn't generally react well to the noise my bugs could make. Add to that these bugs moved with a human intelligence of someone who had years to learn how to exploit them, something they'd both find out a hairs breath before I would act.

A quick throw after pulling the trigger would bury my knife into Biggs' throat. With Tiberitus body to protect me even if Wedge didn't hesitate that would be all I'd need for my bugs to swarm him, furthering his panic, before I closed and finished him. Assuming I needed too.

Bugs, bullet, or knife, wouldn't matter. Three; four seconds tops, and I'd have control of the corridor before the turian's body could settle on the floor.

It was almost funny. A week ago I wouldn't have hesitated to do it. Cast aside the ruse I built, now that I was here, and dispose of the unknowns escorting me back to those I trusted. Harsh, but I learned a long time ago I couldn't trust anyone outside the team. Everyone eventually tried something.

 _Everyone._

But that was what I would have done a week ago. Instead I asked as blandly as I could, "I take it that no one has the demolitions I asked about?"

Eyes still locked with Tiberitus, I could see the slight narrowing of his pupils, the sudden inhalation and the almost quizzical focus. All this told him that he was holding a defenceless girl, but his instincts however, they were screaming something else entirely. I made no attempt to mask my thoughts, or my intent, should he make a move that would change my mind on how to play this.

His talon loosened its grip on my shoulder.

"Hey, what the hell were you thinking, running off like that, Allison?" Wedge asked, once he joined us.

"Yeah, there could have been Pack or Suns up here," Biggs added.

Ignoring their reprimands for the moment, I returned my focus on the roadblock in front of me. Without explosives of our own, there was only one way to get the door opened.

I sent most of my swarm through the breech, forming three clones. I needed more time to really bring a swarm into play but for now, I could do this.

Two I sent at groups that were bunkered down, trying to avoid gunfire. The third I sent _toward_ where the gunfire was coming from. Several times my clones were blown apart by surprised vorcha, only to reform and charge again. A little costly, but the distraction proved worth it. As I hoped the defender recognized my tactics, and moved to nearby cover, where my third clone was waiting.

" _Man, what took you so long to get here? You almost missed out on all the fun stuff!"_

" _I was shot down, Uber," my swarm rasped._

" _So?"_

I ignored the odd looks my chuckle generated.

" _I'm close. We need you to unlock a blast door though."_

" _Sure. Wait, we? Who's we? You got mooks with you?"_

" _NPC's."_

" _Awesome, we could use some NPC's!"_ Uber laughed. " _Which door?"_

"How are you guys with weird?" I asked the mercs next to me. Dispersing my clone into a mini swarm around Uber, I followed his progress keeping him covered the best I could.

"Why are you asking?" Biggs asked cautiously.

Wedge added, "And why do I think I'm not going to like the answer?"

"I ask, because shortly, things are going to happen quick, and there isn't going to be time to explain the wierd," I answered Biggs, before turning to Wedge. "As to your question, that depends."

"On?"

"Anyone have a problem with bugs? I mean, a lot of bugs. I know most people don't like them, but there's going to be a lot of bugs around in a moment. I promise these are friendly."

Three blank stares answered my question, making me smile. When they remained silent, I turned back to the door to wait for Uber to get it open. "In those vids you mentioned earlier, Wedge, ever see one where the monster wins?"

"Er, no?"

"We obviously have different tastes in horror movies then," I chuckled darkly. "There's about fifteen Blood Pack vorcha, a few krogan, and some varren just on the other side of this door, acting as rear guard for a main group that's further ahead. When the door opens we're going to need to get take care of them quickly before we deal with the others. Just stay close, follow my lead, and you guys should be fine."

" _You're_ going to protect _us_?" Wedge asked.

Abandoning my remaining swarm clones I sent them to create a thicker screen to mask what Uber' was doing at the door control. It wasn't much but it offered more than no cover at all.

"Yeah, I figure it's the least I could do for you guys, after helping me out. Of course, you _could_ leave... but you only have about fifteen seconds before that option's gone."

After ten seconds of silence, the door opened ending whatever chance they had to reply.

Standing on the other side, were three very surprised vorcha. While I'd seen them through Sebastian's eyes before, like most things I was discovering, seeing them from myself for the first time was different.

Unlike other galactic species I'd seen so far, vorcha seemed to have only a slight similarity to each other. That being their basic body style. Everything else, height, weight, skin color... even the veins that bulged profusely all over their deceptively frail looking bodies, all of that was exceptionally varied due to their unique physiology. However, I only knew what Sebastian knew; that vorcha were clan based, primitive, and a short lived species that, bizarrely enough, communicated not with words, but through beating each other up.

It went without saying that, generally, they were pretty tough.

Despite being technologically inferior, they were naturally fierce fighters. Blood Pack trained vorcha were especially known for their savagery, but I think a lot of that had to do with how modern fighting tactics for most didn't include a lot of close combat, which the vorcha preferred.

Something we had in common.

As soon as the door rose enough for me to act, I rushed forward, grabbing the closest vorcha to me. He screamed piercingly when I sank my knife into his side; burying it to the hilt. Shifting slightly to put the flailing figure between me and the next, and I unloaded most of my clip into the third blowing holes clean through his torso.

I wasn't really surprised they didn't have barriers; they were generally expensive and vorcha tended to be used as the galaxy's canon fodder. I _was_ surprised with how quickly he went down though. Sebastian's memories of them made me pretty sure they had some regeneration abilities.

Maybe that varied from vorcha to vorcha too?

I pushed that thought aside for now to deal with the vorcha I hadn't attacked yet. I grunted from the impact when he put several shotgun rounds into my meat shield, before he realized who he was shooting. My weak barrier burst doing nothing for the dead figure in my grip but thankfully none of the rounds pierced through this body to hurt me. The shocked pause when he stopped firing cost him when I turned and shot him; splattering the wall behind him in gore.

Two others, bunkered behind crates screamed in rage as they opened up with rifles. Dropping the body I took off running for Uber plunging into the swarm that moments ago protected him. I hand just enough here to make phantom clones appear and disappear to distract the remaining vorcha, while other bugs I had placed on their gun barrels helped me know where they were pointing, and not be in the path of offensive rounds. It turned what should have been a straight run into a rather hectic dance across a minefield only I could see.

Worse than how light my swarm was, my tricks did little to help me with the charging varren. Uber provided what cover he could but there was a lot more of them than he could account for. He dropped two before they could reach me, but that still left one. Pushing myself harder to reach the safety of his cover, I tripped over the hem of my dress resulting in me crashing to the ground just short of safety.

Seeing me helpless, the varren leaped for the kill. Being so focused on me, it thankfully didn't notice Urz following. Howls of anger and pain exploded above me, as both varren flew over Uber's cover, only seconds before I could regain my feet to do the same.

"Hey, Boss!" Uber cheerfully greeted, after shooting the enemy varren before he could recover from Urz's attack. "Where's your meat shields?"

Turning back, I noted Tiberitus using a support pillar for cover, while Biggs and Wedge were still at the door. All three traded fire with a group of vorcha bunkered behind a stack of crates across from them. Uber was trying to keep our left flank from getting reinforced, but wasn't having much success as the enemy seemed more scared of the krogan leading them than Uber's rounds.

That wasn't going to work for me.

I dispersed my active swarm; sending most to act as mere annoyances while I moved others into position for later. Reaching over, I uncoupled the heavy weapon off Uber's back. Thankfully, he took my caution about Omega to heart before I left, and brought one of Leet's better toys. One I hadn't seen since we left Earth Bet. Laying it over the crate, I pulled the trigger glad that we hadn't left it behind after all.

The weapon kicked hard enough that the shock absorbers in my arm hissed. It was loud enough for me to hear over the firefight. The flare that spewed forth hit the crates across from us hard enough to rattle the deck plating, before engulfing that area in a firestorm.

Multiple explosions rocked the line ahead of us, as my appropriated weapon spewed forth a searing wave of ignited plasma igniting containers of ordnance and other flammable objects.

Seeing the others break our way, I pulled back behind the crate, smiling at Uber, "Where did you find it? I've been looking for this thing ever since we cleared out the weapon lockers on the _Exiled._ I thought we left it behind on Bet."

"Found it yesterday while cleaning up the cargo hold," Uber answered while putting several down several Blood Pack who were unlucky enough to not get away quickly enough. "Mispacked in a crate of Leet's spare tinker parts."

"Ah, that would explain why I couldn't find it," I laughed. "Only the foolhardy and crazy brave go into Leet's domain. What's the situation topside? Why are you down here alone?"

"You don't know?"

"Do I normally ask questions I already know the answers too?"

"Er, no?" Uber answered before ducking down with me to avoid the hail of bullets designed to keep us pinned down. The Pack rallied quicker than I was hoping as they repositioned. I adjusted my plans while I listened to Uber explain. "It was pretty good when I was last up there. Well, until these guys showed up. We got rushed by a bunch of Sun's at the same time so I came down here to check things out while Shepard dealt with them. That was when I found these guys trying to sneak in.

"I figured I could hold them until the others were done but then you showed up. Really things were under control until Cortez's shuttled arrived."

"He make it alright?" I asked.

"Yeah but he seemed real upset about you getting shot down. I tried telling him that he should have been worried about Omega with you on the loose, but he hasn't seen you in action yet. Wasn't happy with Shepard either when he ordered him to get the civilians out of the area once we took out a few gunships. That was fun, you should have seen me!"

I couldn't see his face, but I could hear in his voice Cortez wasn't the only one worried about. "Did Miranda and Jacob ever make it? Rorrim said they tried but got pinned down somewhere."

"Heard about that eh?" Uber asked, handing me a thermal clip so I could reload my pistol after I ejected my spent one. "Yeah. They showed up with some Cerberus guys, a little bit after I skyjacked a gunship and cleared the way for Cortez to extract the civilians. Man, you should have seen that shit, it was so fucking cool!"

Looking over our cover I noticed the area I torched burned as if covered in napalm, and not even the Blood Pack would go near it now. The problem was, neither could we, but it did cut out the middle of the battlefield, which would _hopefully_ work to our advantage if they split up to hold each side. Judging by what I was seeing, that was what they were going to do.

Perfect.

"Let's kill these guys now; you can brag later!"

"Fine, but I got it on video! Seriously, even you wouldn't believe the shit I pulled off. Don't think I'm not posting that shit online, it's going to make me a rockstar!"

The hard thud of a body hitting the pillar next to me, brought my attention to the hulking -and pissed- human next to me.

"What the fuck was that? You said there was going to be bugs but you didn't say they were going to be moving around like that!" Wedge shouted. "And you fucking ran in it? Are you insane?"

"Why does everyone always ask me that?" I asked Uber. "That's the second time someone's asked me that. _Today._ "

"Must be a slow day then," Uber remarked with a short laugh. His rifle roared, sending a slow vorcha to the ground.

"Asshole," I muttered. Turning my attention to the frazzled man beside me, I said, "Uber, meet Tiberitus, Wedge and Biggs, the NPC's I mentioned."

"Seriously?" Uber asked, for some reason shocked enough to turn away from the fight.

"What?"

"Biggs and Wedge?"

"Yeah," I answered confused. "Why, do you know them?"

"Kinda," Uber laughed jovially and not explaining why he thought that was funny. "But not really. S'up guys. Mercs, right? How much did she offer you?"

"Twenty thousand," Tiberitus answered just as confused as I seemed to be.

"Next time, ask for more. Typical hazard pay doesn't cover the kind of shit she gets us into."

Rolling my eyes at Uber's antics while also ignoring the frazzled looks on the others, I continued, "Guys, this smart ass is Uber. Are you guys alright? Anyone hit?"

"We're fine, Allison," Biggs answered, moving past us to post up next to Uber.

"No, I'm not fine," Wedge shouted again. "Am I the only one who wants to know what the deal is with the God damn bugs!? Where the hell did they go anyways?"

"Later, we have bigger problems, like the Blood Pack _shooting_ at us!" I fired back.

Despite Wedge's shouting, with us all grouped together, our odds were better. Uber switched from trying to hold the enemy troops back, to taking precision shots for kills. Holding our far left side, Tiberitus used his Phaeston similarly, while Biggs and Wedge -after seeing neither of his friends support his need for answers- traded off suppressing and doing the same.

Seeing everything was fine for the moment, I decided to take the time to take care of an issue of my own. Using my knife I sliced down the seam of my dress on both sides of my legs, before cutting off enough of the bottom that I wouldn't risk tripping over myself like I did on my run over here. To get through the next stretch I needed every bit of mobility I could get.

Next to Uber, Biggs seemed more focused on me as I worked, than on the battle. I tried ignoring it but I wasn't the only one to notice.

Uber cuffed the back of his hand against Biggs' head, "Man, I _know_ you're not looking."

"Whaa..." he sputtered. I had to fight to hide my blush at the implication. "No, I wasn't!"

"Good, cuz if you _were_ looking, I'd kick your ass seven ways from Tuesday," Uber growled. "Keep your fucking eyes on the fight, asshole."

A muttered 'Spirits' told me that Biggs wasn't the only one who'd taken an interest. I looked up, noticing both Tiberitus and Wedge steal glances at me.

Mostly Wedge.

"What? Never seen a pair of legs before?" I challenged.

"You realize you have several bugs on you, right?" Wedge asked, still glancing at me in between firing at the opposition. "And you're _okay_ with that? Didn't you see what they were doing a moment ago?"

Most of my arsenal that I had hidden in my dress I dispersed while passing through my swarm in preparation for my next move. Those I kept were non-fliers, jumpers, or those I liked to have close for one reason or another. While it wasn't nearly as many as before, I still had quite a few and, I guess, more than enough to draw attention from those not used to the sight. I wouldn't have even noticed if Wedge hadn't said something.

Beside me Uber snorted and I could feel his shoulders shaking from suppressed laughter. "Quite you and take your own advice, chucklehead. I have some bee's around here somewhere, and what is the problem, Wedge? I told you there was going to be a lot of bugs in here."

"I recognize that spider moving up your cheek," he replied uncomfortably. I didn't need the bugs I had on him to see his shiver as my spider continued on its way. "I'm pretty sure that one's poisonous."

"You must have spent some time on Mindoir, that's where I picked her up, but yeah, she is," I answered, continuing to move that spider to its destination, my shortened hair. While my hair wasn't nearly as long as it used to be, it still fell to my shoulders and it was getting in my way. I had spiders go to work, binding it to keep it out of my eyes.

"She's not as nasty as some others around but I told you guys earlier not to worry about the bugs. We don't have time for me to explain why. So deal with it and don't worry about them; they're friendly."

"You expect us to not worry about poisonous bugs because their _friendly_? How the fuck do you expect us to be okay with that? How do you _know_?" Wedge snapped pulling behind his cover to glare at me.

"They're not attacking _you_ , are they?"

They weren't, but considering how bizarre the situation was for them I bet that was little comfort. I did have enough really small ones on each of their armors to know exactly what they were doing in real time. Mostly out of sight since I expected them to be a bit freaked out but not enough for them to be very noticeable considering the incoming bullets _should_ have been the more immediate problem.

Apparently, I underestimated Wedge's level of freak out.

"Yet," Biggs muttered. Surprisingly, Tiberitus was keeping his own council but there was a knowing look in his eyes that made me wonder if maybe he'd heard of me. Though I couldn't imagine from where. I'd only been in this galaxy a little while and we spent most of it trying to stay out of sight.

Maybe I wasn't as paranoid as I thought if word about me really had spread around already.

"And they won't, as long as you guys keep your payday in mind and stick to business. Right now that means killing Blood Pack."

"Fuck it," Wedge cursed as he turned back to the fight while trying to ignore me. "Twenty large isn't worth this shit. You better fucking explain after we're done here."

A slight tilt of Uber's helmet was enough to understand his implied question. _They going to be a problem?_

I shook my head. _It's fine._

Not being in armor, I was going to have to do this old school; like we used to do back in the Bay. Just without the comfort of the protection my old costume gave me. While the stalemate continued, I was at work putting everything into place. I might not have had my accustomed amount of bugs, and few of the really deadly or useful ones for quick kills, but the few I had were more than enough for what I planned.

Especially when they were about to be joined by those I finally got massed at the doors to the tunnels.

If Wedge was freaked out before, he was going to _love_ this part.

"Tiberitus; think you can cover me long enough to reach that loading truck?" I asked once I finished my alterations.

"Yes," he replied. Not as surely as I'd like, but that probably had something to do with the level of weird he was dealing with.

Moving my swarm to provide a screen between us and that side, I turned to Uber, "I'm going to take care of those vorcha. Think you can keep the ones further back pinned down for a minute?"

"That's pretty risky, considering you're not geared for it," Uber cautioned. "I could do it."

"No, I got it, but I really need those guys in the back kept busy for a few more minutes while my bugs work their gear."

"Alright. You want me to leave any for you to deal with?"

"Then who would take on the krogan?"

Laughing, Uber nodded to my point, while both of us ignored the shocked looks from the others, "Sure, I'll take care of big man. What about our plus three here?"

I turned to Tiberitus, "Once I clear out that section, you guys join me. The far side group will have to break cover to get us. Cut them down when they try, and keep everyone else off Uber while he deals with that krogan."

"You're seriously going out there without armor; armed with only a pistol and a knife?" Wedge shouted disbelievingly again.

Ignoring him for the moment, I kept my eyes on Tiberitus until he nodded.

"Do me a favor Wedge? I get we're well past your comfort level for weird, but focus. Kill the Pack, don't worry about me, and whatever you do, try to not freak out any more than you already have, alright?"

"Seriously, that's your advice? Just who the hell do you think you are?"

Shaking my head I broke cover shouting, "Urz, come!"

Gunfire broke out pinning the enemy for me during these critical moments as I raced out. Through the bugs left behind I heard Uber tell to Wedge, " _Dude, I don't who you thought she was, but I'd get your game faces on cuz shit's about to go down_ fast."

The teams gunfire kept heads down long enough for me to reach the halfway point of my blitz. That was fine, that was all I expected and more than I needed. Before any of them could do anything about my bugs disgorged from the tunnel these Blood Pack entered through earlier.

Screeches of surprise, screams of pain and frustration created a bedlam of noise only enhanced by the shear assault of sound generated by wings, mandibles, and insect limbs. My swarm engulfed the area blinding everyone but me. While I didn't have the numbers I normally liked to control an area, I now had enough condensed here to do what I needed.

Spiders streaming silk carried by flyers tried hindering them enough to bind, or at least slow them down. Asrids bit hands making them drop weapons, or dug into those same weapons trying to get to the delicate electronics inside. Other insects harassed my opposition the best they could stinging, biting, injecting poisons or going for soft tissue of the panicking vorcha.

One stood only to trip over a silk line. Two others raised weapons but instead of firing, their rifles sparked in distress. The last one tried pulling his shotgun only for it to resist due to more silk.

Busy with my bugs, the vorcha I raced toward didn't even notice me until it was too late. Leaping into the swarm I hit him with my pistol giving it everything I had. My strike lashed across his face sending him reeling to the ground while I continued to the next trying to make use of every ounce of the advantage I had.

Urz seemed to get what I was doing. He moved through my swarm as if he was a part of it. Maybe the time spent with me on the ship helped him get a feel for my abilities or maybe he was just that smart. Either way he ignored my bugs in favor for tearing apart the few varren that waited for us.

Trained Blood Pack war beasts they might have been but they never stood a chance against both my swarm and the old pit fighter. Urz grabbed the first by the neck, breaking it before casually tossing carcass aside. He didn't waste any time charging and mauling the next.

All the while I moved through my swarm. Vanishing after striking only to reappear next to a different target leaving my victims flailing at phantoms and clones. Only having the one clip in my pistol I saved ammunition for sure kills while making liberal use of the stun module and my knife.

I was going to have to look into getting one of those for my pistol later. With each strike the stun module lived up to it's name by sending forth a small burst of current into my opponent. Not enough to seriously hurt but enough to add that little extra to each hit. Adding slashes from my knife and the occasional pistol round to finish a weakened target really maximized their freak out.

All around me partially blind vorcha screamed in panic having no idea what the hell was going on. Weapons didn't work, their physical attacks hit only clones, while they bled and died. Through it all I played the monster, moving from one target to the next keeping them off balance until I could be sure of the kill while Urz finished dispatching the last of the varren.

While I dealt with these, the guys weren't sitting idle. Tiberitus and his team proved they were as good as I thought and hoped. While I was terrorizing just this side, the sounds generated within my swarm didn't go unnoticed by the other Blood Pack. It distracted them greatly and the guys used it well picking off fleeing demoralized vorcha or those too stunned to stay in, or get to, cover quickly.

Even Wedge, though he eyed my swarm with as much intent as he eyed the enemy. It made me wonder if he was phobic. I pushed the distracting thought that he might be now away. Now was so not the time for stray thoughts.

Even with all this going for us, I knew it wasn't going to last. Fed up with how the battle was going, the krogan leader fired his shotgun into a fleeing vorcha. His shouts, snarls and growls reverberated through the area as he marshaled his remaining forces to counter attack.

Even with only a half dozen left to him he looked confident as he lead his counter not at me, but at where the guys were bunkered. Every last one of them firing wildly the entire way. Everyone ducked behind cover against the hellish onslaught.

Cursing at the winning tactic, I blitzed their rush with my swarm abandoning the few vorcha here that I hadn't gotten to yet. I followed firing into the them hopeing to disturpt them enough for the guys to regroup.

Several staggered, one fell. Seeing my swarm getting closer, Wedge panicked; fired blindly. Changing directions I tried to get out of the way but not fast enough to keep my barrier from flaring as they quickly overloaded.

Seeing the static burst, the krogan changed directions so fast there was nothing I could do about it. Roaring his rage he swung his shotgun.

Having no alternative I raised my arm to block. The impact sent my weapons flying one way, and me another. I barely noticed hitting the ground and rolling until the loading truck stopped me.

Getting to my feet hurt, but I managed it quick enough to avoid the brutes second charge. The entire room rang when he crashed into the truck hard enough to pick it up off the ground three feet.

He roared his defiance as he turned to face me again not looking the least bit worse for his miss. Worse, my short flight carried me out of sight of the guys who were mostly busy wrapping the last of the vorcha.

"Now, little human, you die!" The huge figure stated; training his shot gun on me and pulling the trigger.

Nothing happened.

He blinked.

I smirked. "Performance issues. It's alright, I hear it happens to everyone."

Tossing aside the worthless weapon he roared, "I'll rip you apart with my bare hands!"

"Can I get a raincheck?" I asked taking a step to the right; keeping myself aligned with where Uber was. "I'm really not in the mood right now."

Matching my steps the krogan menacingly advanced toward me as he growled, "No!"

Uber appeared behind him landing on the back of the truck. Two steps and a flare of his armor sent him leaping back into the air completely unnoticed until he landed on my opponent's back, burying his plasma blade into brutes hump.

I slumped, blowing out the breath I was holding, "What took you so long? If I knew you were going to stroll over here I would have kept my bugs."

"What?" Uber asked defensively. "I got him, didn't I? You alright?"

"Mostly," I answered while looking over the damage done to my arm. Once Biggs finished off the last of the vorcha I cleared most of bugs away. Hopefully that would keep Wedge from firing on me again. "This things had it though. I'm barely able to move my fingers after he hit me."

"We'll get it sorted soon. Garrus just told me Shepard just finished off the guys who got through us and the Suns backed off. Cortez shouldn't have any problems picking us up."

I smiled at Urz when he nuzzled my leg. Thankfully he was fine though his scales were stained with blood in several places other than his muzzle. Still partially bent over to catch my breath, I gave him a good strong scratch along his spines to let him know how much I appreciated him. "Good, I've had enough of Omega for a while."


	30. The Call 5

**The Call 5.5**

While the last stretch wasn't that long of a walk I was more than a bit relieved to see the door ahead. More because it meant getting away from the stares of the three mercs behind me than from my brush with the Pack earlier. The adrenaline rush I felt earlier had faded, leaving me slightly fatigued, but I was still good for another round. Or two. It wouldn't have been the first time.

However the looks those guys kept giving me put me on edge. The nervous fidgeting when they approached Uber and me after the last of the Pack were dealt with. Distrusting eyes dancing around as they tried to keep track of every insect in my swarm. All of them wondering not if, but when I was going to turn on them. I could almost see the questions in their eyes. Would they see the bullet coming? Would it matter? Or maybe they would just vanish into my swarm to be carried away in little bits like the vorcha?

Even keeping my bugs massed into swarm clones and away from them didn't help, nor did I think they appreciated what it meant that I allowed them to walk behind me. Evidenced by how it didn't stop the stares or whispers.

Beside me Uber's helmet turned slightly in my direction, giving me a slight shrug. _Their loss._

Keeping pace I gave him a weak smile. _Thanks._

Exiting the tunnel, we found ourselves emerging into the first floor of Garrus's safe house. The floor was littered in sparking; broken mechs and bodies. Most of them Suns and Pack, but there were enough Eclipses scattered around that I wondered if there was anyone on the station Garrus and Shepard hadn't pissed off while they'd been here.

Jacob Taylor was walking among the various bodies as I took in the scene and was the first to notice us arrive. A couple of people I didn't recognize but carried Cerberus insignias were also around. Mostly moving bodies or tossing them over the railing to create a clearing.

On seeing the five of us plus my clones enter, Jacob made his way toward us. There was nothing in his expression that gave away his thoughts over my appearance. Instead I received a perfect salute, "Ma'am."

"Jacob," I greeted him returning his salute. "Looks like you guys have been busy. Status?"

"Yes Ma'am. Our perimeter is solid. Best as we can tell they've given up trying to crack our position. The commander probably knows more; he's up on the second level with a couple of Vakarian's people. They've been sniping opposition across the chasm while we played defense for those that got missed. Right now we're clearing a space for Cortez to land. Should be here pretty soon."

I nodded, "Casualties?"

"Some," Jacob answered flatly. "Miranda took over a Cerberus Cell that was here and we lost all but five trying to link up with the Commander. As you can see, only three of those made it. I think Vakarian had four wounded in the fight; not sure if they survived. All things considered, it could have been a whole lot worse."

 _Understatement,_ I thought still looking around. Evidence of how difficult a fight they'd had was written all over their armor, walls and floor.

"Thanks Jacob," I said before the sounds of Cortez's shuttle arriving diverted most attention that direction. "I'll let you get back to it."

"Ma'am."

"You know, I actually kind of like him," Uber chuckled as Jacob walked away. "Man can take a Tuesday with the best of them and just rolls with it. Not bad in a fight either. Shame he works for Cerberus but at least he doesn't hold a grudge like Sweet Cheeks over there."

It wasn't hard to find Miranda while looking around. She was the only one in Cerberus colors not moving bodies. Instead, she held a data pad while pretending to go over the contents as she studied the new arrivals; us.

I nodded. "Yeah. She was always going to be the hard sell, but we'll figure out something. Once Cortez lands secure a flatline to Rorrim. Get these guys paid and cut them loose. I want to get off this station as quickly as we can and I'm pretty sure they'd rather be anywhere but around me."

Uber sighed before turning to the mercs behind us. "Come on you three."

With Urz beside me, I turned heading up the stairs Jacob pointed out. Like the ground floor, there was damage here and there. However that was nothing compared to what was waiting out front.

Stretched out ahead was a long walkway that looked like the only physical entrance to get in here if one didn't know about the maintenance tunnels. Overlooking it was a windowless balcony area. Looking around I noted several empty crates that probably held thermal clips stacked strategically along it.

The view however, wasn't something that would win any awards with Homes and Gardens; even if this wasn't Omega. The bridge the view framed was littered in corpse and smoking mechs. Looking at the set up here it was easy to see that even one sniper could have held this position for a long while, but with two -especially of Garrus and Shepard's skills- this roost provided an unparalleled advantage.

Garrus and Shepard stood next to the balcony casually holding sniper rifles overlooking their handiwork. Deeper into the room looked like a makeshift barracks with four beds occupied. The wounded were being taken care of by two others, a quarian and a batarian of all things.

"I still say it shouldn't count," Garrus mumbled.

"You sang a different tune during the Armstrong Campaign when you counted those geth troopers after scoping that Prime."

Garrus waved off Shepard's counter, "Troopers barely count as one each and I only took credit for one extra. That and Primes never exploded the way YRIM's do. Besides, it always counts when you headshot a target and the guys weapon discharges and kills his own people. Causing a heavy mech to overload its powercore and detonate is cheating."

"How is that cheating?" Shepard laughingly asked. "I didn't use any tech attacks; I shot it in the head."

Garrus shook his head, "You knew damn well what was going to happen when you did that. I'm not giving you credit for the five caught in the blast."

"Yet you're taking credit for the guy that slipped and fell of the bridge?"

"He fell because the I shot the man in front of him and my bullet deflected off his kinetic barrier panicking him. Of course I'm counting it."

Shepard laughed at his grumbling friends defense.

My eye twitched. After counting to ten in my head, backwards, I approached the arguing duo, "Gentlemen."

Both turned but neither returned my greeting opting instead to stare at me before Garrus asked, "Are you alright?"

"Peachy," I replied keeping the smile I plastered on my face intact. "It's not like I was shot out of the sky while trying to break a blockade for you guys or anything, right? Then having to find my way through a full on gang riot -the one you guys started- that just so happened to encompass three of the most notorious mercenary groups in the Terminus. I really hope there is a better explanation for why I spent the last hour crawling through the bowels of Omega other than your need to stroke your egos because if there isn't, I'm going to be very annoyed."

Ignoring the muffled guffaw from the batarian tending the wounded, I kept my gaze locked on Shepard. In turn, Shepard's eyes took their time as he looked me over, and not in a flattering way.

"That's not exactly how I would have described the situation," Garrus mumbled.

"Well, then enlighten me to how you two managed to piss off every merc gang on Omega."

"It was surprisingly easy," Garrus remarked. "But the fact is we're not the ones who put in most of the work. We're just the ones Aria talked into lighting the spark to set it off."

"Aria T'Loak?" I asked. "Why are you guys doing a job for Aria of all people?"

"You know who Aria is?" Shepard asked.

I snorted. That was a loaded question. One I ignored. "The mission plan before I left was to pick up Mordin Solus and possibly a few supplies. So how did that turn into working for Aria?"

"Well, it didn't at first," Garrus explained. "But I've been gone since Liara kidnapped me from Illium. Your intel told us where Mordin was, but not what was going on in that area. Com lines are not exactly dependable in a place like Omega and knowing my team they either went to ground or were doing their own thing while I was gone. We needed up to date intel and if you want to know the pulse of events on Omega, that means you talk to Aria. There isn't much that happens here that she doesn't know."

I nodded, but kept my thoughts to myself. I was intimately familiar with the practice of running an OP in another villains territory. Basic courtesy is always to introduce yourself, your business, and pay the fees to do said business. Assuming it doesn't conflict with theirs, which was half the purpose of the meet to begin with. Villain depending, it could get expensive or exciting. More often than not, both, and not in a good way, but it usually beat trying to work around them.

It was still weird to see that practice in play here but I couldn't argue that it made sense. Especially as I'd been on both sides of that equation multiple times.

"Go on," I said.

"Aria had data that they were going to unite against her," Shepard explained. "Her people had been busy trying to spur their dislike for each other to keep them from doing it but it wasn't working."

"That and Aria prefers to send loud and clear messages for things like this," Garrus added.

Shepard shrugged at the point as he continued, "She offered a trade. We take out enough of them so that it wouldn't matter if they did unite, and she would provide the intel we needed for here, as well as what she knew about the goings on in the Terminus systems. I even managed to talk her into including updating us the next time the Collector ship passes through the Omega 4 Relay."

 _Damn._ That actually wasn't a bad deal. While it wouldn't tell us who the Collector targets were, it would give us a window letting us know they were hunting. Also having an in with the local warlord wouldn't hurt either. _Assuming she holds up her end..._

"So then you picked a fight with the Blue Suns?"

Shepard nodded, "I really wasn't picky about which ones we started with but they were the first ones we came across."

"Originally we planned to take them on one at a time," Garrus added. "But when the Blood Pack showed up we figured we'd just go with it. Especially since they were fighting each other as much as they were coming after us."

"Actually worked out pretty well. We didn't even lose any of the civilians thanks to Cortez. Are you sure you're all right?"

"Fine," I mumbled as I processed everything.

"Right," Shepard snorted. "Of course you are. So you normally walk around battlefields dressed like that?"

"Oh, you _want_ to talk about the dress?" I asked while sharpening my attention directly on Shepard. "Okay, let's talk about my dress."

Garrus eyes widened even as he not so subtly sidestepped away from Shepard. "This dress was an original Sweet P Vaughn. I had it specially created before I left Earth Bet and let me tell you something, she was not very receptive to taking an order form a villain. Much less one with my rep. Translation, I had to grovel _and_ it was expensive. It is, or was, one of the very few personal possessions I own.

"I spent an entire summer working at a gas station while going to college saving up enough just so I could say I owned something nice that I didn't pay for using money I stole or stabbed someone to get. That was important to me as everything else up until then was paid for either through one of my shell companies, or from leftovers when I was an active cape. I wanted this to be different since I was trying to leave that life behind."

My slow advance toward Shepard eventually put his back against the balcony. "Besides, every girl should have a pretty dress, or so Siren keeps telling me. If for no other reason than some nebulous special occasion. I never even had a reason to wear it before I left a few days ago. Now, my pretty dress is ruined because you decided to get into a dick measuring contest with Garrus while not communicating to Rorrim what was going on. Just because you're in charge of the mission doesn't mean you get to keep everything to yourself."

"Not quite how this all happened, but alright. However I don't see how you expected me to contact the _Normandy_ considering how deep we are inside the station, not to mention all the jamming interference the mercs were generating once we got locked down here."

"Your armor has an inbuilt QEC. None of that matters."

"Really?" Shepard asked faking surprise.

"You owe me a new dress," I ground through my teeth.

"Pardon me?" Shepard blinked seemingly unsure of what to say. I kept my eyes locked on his to make sure he knew I was perfectly serious. "Right. A new dress. Okay."

"And shoes."

"Shoes?"

" _Expensive_ shoes."

A muffled cough from Garrus diverted Shepard's attention but I kept my eyes narrowed and focused on him until I was satisfied he understood. Shepard nodded without another word on the matter. "Good. Let's finish your business with Aria so I can get the hell off this station."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Loading up, the flight, and short walk from the air car park to Afterlife passed quickly with me spending most of my time reviewing footage from the team's hard suites thanks to the inbuilt omni took in my armor. Courtesy of Cortez. I wasn't expecting to find my gear in his shuttle but I was very thankful he thought of bringing it before he left the _Normandy_. Though I earned more than a few awkward looks when I stripped of the remnants of my dress to put in on in the shuttle. The only one not taken aback by my actions was Uber -who knew me well enough to understand- and Shepard who'd probably seen more than his share of women changing during his Alliance days and didn't think anything of it.

There might be a lot of things about the Alliance I didn't agree with, but I will give them one thing, they took equality to an extreme. There were no men and women in the service, there were only soldiers. While some individuals might not think that way, policy did with most of the rank and file just accepting that was the way it was.

Typing away at the data pad I was linked into, I continued processing the fight while deleting most of the audio. There wasn't time to properly screen everything to see if anything sensitive was mentioned but there was no reason to give Aria more than she bartered for.

Uber opted to stay behind with Cortez and Urz and was already showing him the vid of his skyjacking by the time we started walking away. Liara mentioned needing to find one of her contacts before we left and headed off with two of Garrus's people. Similarly, Miranda and Jacob stayed behind while they cut loose the Cerberus extras. I wasn't surprised when the mercs I hired were already gone by the time I changed which left just Garrus, Shepard, and me walking toward Aria's club.

Thankfully three heavily armed people was more than enough that most moved out of our way. Though I could have done without the stares and whispers but I'd take what I could get. The bouncer at the door being an exception. He didn't bat a set of eyelashes on seeing us. The older batarian just opened the doors with a nod as if we were expected.

Finishing with editing the data for Aria, I took a look around the club. It was about what I expected from Sebastian's accounts. The only light in the place came from glaring neon glows or massive vid screens showing different scantily -or as more often than not, naked- pole dancers doing their routines. The music in the place was -what I assumed- some kind of modern techno. There was a heavy heat in the air creating a strong mix of booze and sweat mingled in the arousal -and more judging by the some of women I could see leaning or bent over balconies overhead- of multiple species.

It was strong enough I regretted not putting on my helmet. I figured there wasn't anything that could compare to the stench I walked through in the maintenance tunnels. I was wrong. Lesson learned, never go anywhere on Omega without a helmet. And extra air filters. And possibly some kind of anti STD booster shot to supplement the immunizations Chakwas gave us all last week. Maybe two.

Overall, I really wasn't impressed preferring Pallanquin's atmosphere. While a bit racy, Faultline's club at least had class. Even at Brockton Bay's worst. This place just seemed to be a tribute to debauchery. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Garrus's mandibles were flush against his face, obviously about as happy at being here as I was. Shepard seemed more focused on the various armed guards stationed around the club. Aria's enforcers weren't hard to spot which was a point I understood. Judging by the kind of patrons that frequented this place, I bet there was more than enough work for them to earn their pay.

"Captain!"

Moving through the crowd were the last two people I ever expected to see again. "Cessi? Lia? What are you two doing in a place like this?"

"Waiting for you," Lia answered once she was close enough to not have to shout.

"Why? Did you leave something on the ship?"

Shaking her head Cessi answered, "No Ma'am, we wanted to come back."

I blinked. "Wasn't the Broker's ship enough for both of your pilgrimage gifts?"

"More than enough," Lia gushed. "This is our Boon."

"Boon? Guys, I know a little bit about your culture, but I've never heard of that before. What's a Boon and what does it have to do with coming back to the _Normandy_?"

"Sorry," Cessi apologized while still slightly bouncing on her toes. "We've been here for several days waiting and we thought we might have missed you entirely."

"Then we heard about the fight going on in Kima and knew you weren't far," Lia added.

Chuckling, I rolled my eyes at the misunderstanding but didn't correct them. "Boon?"

"Right," Lia said. "Well when Admiral Zorah arrived he was so impressed with our gift, he personally assured us a place with any ship in the Flotilla."

"Because our gift was most useful to the Special Research arm, there wasn't any problems with me getting a place on one of the ships. I'm Cessi'Rallo vas Ricta now. For Lia since she wanted to join one of the live ships, Admiral Zorah personally arranged for her new captain to get four new shuttles. They're even under a hundred years old! So now Lia is Lia'Vael vas Shellen." Cessi informed me.

"That's great," I replied still a bit confused. "But I still don't understand."

"Captain, you might not have thought it was a big deal, but the ship you gave us really was. The computing power in that vessel alone might see the completion of several of Admiral Zorah's projects and who knows how that might help the Flotilla next. The last innovation to come from his laboratories increased food production efficiency of the live ships by fifteen percent!" Lia said.

Nodding quickly, Cessi continued, "Yes! After we were accepted and welcomed into our new clans each of our Captains offered us a Boon for bringing in something that helped the Fleet as a whole. It could have been anything that was in their power to give. Preferred quarters, extra rationing, shifts or even specialized training that could eventually lead to leadership positions."

"We asked for permission to return to you," Lia finished shuffling from one foot to another. "If-if you'll have us, I mean.

"But, the Fleet?" I asked still feeling confused. "I thought that was the whole point of the Pilgrimage, to bring something back, earn your place in a new clan ship and then start your new lives."

Cessi nodded slowly as she answered in a serious tone, "It is, but at it's heart the Pilgrimage is more about proving we are willing to give of ourselves to the greater good."

"You took us in, treated us like people," Lia continued. "Not vagrants or pests like almost everyone else has since we left the Flotilla. What does it say about us if we turned our backs on you and what you are doing after everything you have done for us?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but found my focus stolen faster than I could form the words. I'd initially ignored the approaching figure returning from the bar. That changed the second my eyes slid across the cloth draping the woman's suit.

She wove around people with an ease of someone who was used to moving through a crowd. Never touching anyone but slipping through gaps between bodies like water through your fingers. Her suit was exactly as I remembered; muted purple, grey and black with gold accents. I would have known exactly who she was even without recognizing the pattern of the neryia covering her head like a hood or wrapped around her waist and thighs.

 _Tali._

She didn't even look at me, her gaze locked on the man behind me.

I wasn't the only one who noticed her. Garrus and Shepard spotted her approaching only moments after I did. Even with how loud and boisterous the crowd was I heard her whisper, "Shepard… is it, you're really alive?"

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya?" Shepard asked with a wide smile on his face.

My whispered correction was lost to the music around us, but Tali's wasn't. "It's actually vas Neema now. When they told me you were alive I didn't believe it. How…"

Images flashed through my mind almost too fast for me to understand them. Moments of laughter repairing or upgrading the Mako, saving her from Fist's thugs, standing back to back while surrounded by husks, watching her put a bullet through Saren's head to make sure he was dead, placing my hand on her shoulder while she soaked in every detail of Rannoch planet side with her own eyes for the first time.

Other images accompanied them. Stolen moments in engineering. Quiet meals during third watch at the mess. The feel of her entwined with me, feeling her teeth sink into my shoulder, shuddering in sensory overload as she felt another's body heat for the first time...

I fought the influx of emotions; foreign and my own. I couldn't help but find it horrifically amusing. That. I can remember _that_ , but I can't remember how Sebastian safely navigated the Omega 4 relay.

I felt guilty, then. Shepard and Tali were so close… yet _I_ knew what her face looked like. I knew her heart better than even he did, and for a brief moment found myself envious of _him_ instead of her. He would get to learn those little details all over again, while I...

Pushing it all down, I swallowed dryly, forcing myself to turn away from the reunion. Unable to watch either the scene playing out before me, or Sebastian's memories racing through my head. With shaking fingers I clutched the grip on my pistol to steady myself.

"Captain?"

Focusing on Lia, I gave a wooden smile. "You two are always welcome on the _Normandy_. To be honest, the ship felt less for not having you guys around."

Cessi and Lia perked up, mercifully not noticing my gaze lingering on the third quarian. I turned back seeing Shepard, Garrus, and Tali talking. Smiles, chuckles, and relaxed postures of old friends meeting again after a long time. I didn't need to see how close Tali was standing to Shepard to know for two of them there was more than just friendship going on. Even if it was unspoken.

Despite the dull pain in my chest, I nodded, trying to pretend like I wasn't feeling irrational anger and jealousy, for which of them even _I_ wasn't sure. I knew this was coming. I _expected it,_ dammit, even before I left Earth Bet. I'd hoped that… I could have... well, I would deal.

 _The least I can do is be happy for him. I haven't seen him smile like that since we rescued him._

I turned back to the quarians in front of me, "Look, I have to deal with Aria. Our shuttle is in a car park just around the corner from Afterlife. Uber's there; why don't you guys go see him while I do this thing?"

Getting a giggle from the pair and nods, I started walking away until I heard Shepard, "Hebert?"

Garrus's eyes darted between Shepard and me a bit too knowingly for my liking; the turian didn't miss much. Thankfully, he remained silent. Tali looked like she only just noticed I was there. Or more accurately, that I was part of the group. Shepard just looked conflicted.

I tried to pretend the lack of recognition in Tali's eyes didn't hurt every bit as much as seeing Shepard again had. For the most part I think I succeeded. It wasn't like I didn't have plenty of practice.

"I'm sure you guys have some catching up to do," I answered the unspoken question.

"She's expecting _us_."

"Life's full of little disappointments," I countered. "Go on, I can handle Aria."

"A lot of people have thought they could handle Aria," Garrus cautioned clearly not liking my idea. "They're not around anymore."

I smiled, quelling the pang of longing I had no place feeling as my eyes once again moved between Shepard and Tali before focusing on Garrus. "Not to sound arrogant, but if I wanted T'loak dead, she would be dead. Besides, I'm just completing a delivery and letting her know the job's done. I'm no stranger to dealing with villains on their own turf, Garrus. I'll be fine."

Still not looking convinced, Garrus remained quiet as I walked away. Tali asking Shepard questions at a barely understandable rate kept him from saying anything else. I took the time the short walk gave me to get my game face on and push everything else back. there would be plenty of time later to deal with...whatever this was. For now, I had a villain to deal with.

Nodding to Grizz as I passed, I continued up the stairs to Aria's private booth coming to a stop almost as soon as I reached it.

"Stop right there, human," The hulking batarian ordered while three other guards pointed weapons at me. "What business do you have with Aria?"

Sliding my eyes from the minion in front of me, I addressed Aria's back directly, "You know why I'm here."

"I asked you a question," he growled.

Aria had yet to move, still looking out over her club. Again I ignored the minion frowning at me holding out the data pad of the fight. "While I'm sure it's redundant, vid footage of Shepard decimating the Pack, Suns, and Eclipse. I don't envy whoever has to do the clean up. There's a lot of bodies down there."

Growling, the batarian grabbed my shoulder as he moved well into my personal space. "Listen you jumped up bitch…"

The high pitched whine of my Paladin amping interrupted whatever he was going to say. The fact I had it pointed directly into his crotch wasn't missed by any of Aria's guards.

I sighed. It always seemed to come down to things like this. I have no idea why Sebastian had such a hard time adapting to Earth Bet considering the villains here really weren't that much different than those back home. That didn't mean I liked dealing with them though, or these power plays.

Ignoring the frozen posture, and widened eyes, of the man in front of me I continued to address Aria, "If half of your reputation is accurate, you knew I was with Shepard before we set out to come here. You -personally- watched me walk in with him. The turian two tables away from us reported who we were talking to and that I was coming up here alone. The plains clothed salarian patrolling the pole dancers confirmed it when I passed the door to the lower levels. Not that he needed to since the moment I started walking this way your sniper hidden in that fourth floor balcony next to the red neon sign scoped and followed my progress the entire time I walked up here.

"Now, as a professional courtesy, I'll let you decide how this will go down. I can either take away the reason this guys harem puts up with him, or we can do business. Personally I -and I think your minion here- would rather we do the latter, but I'm good with either."

No one moved after my statement, for several long moments until Aria's chuckle broke the verbal silence as she slowly turned around, "That confident, are you?"

"I would tell your sniper to relax if I was you. He looks a little jumpy up there and putting a round into me isn't going to save his friend's balls. I don't need to pull this trigger, just let go. If that happens I'm _confident_ your enforcer here is going to remember me for a very long time. Probably every time he sits down to pee." I stated keeping my eyes on hers.

Aria out right laughed, "That almost makes it tempting to let you do it."

"Up to you," I returned casually. "I don't think he likes that idea much though."

"What makes you think I give a damn about him? Or his balls, for that matter?" Aria replied.

"You do. Or rather, you care about the effort you'll have to go through to avenge him. Killing me? You think I'm a little above average at best. Maybe good, but not your usual fare. And I'm a human. I don't have half the lifetimes you've already lived. So I'm obviously in over my head and just don't know it, right?"

"Ah… Aria?" the batarian grunt moaned a little pathetically. Huh. I didn't know batarian voices could squeak like that. Learn something new every day.

"But we both know it doesn't matter. The second rounds start flying, the real fight starts. Maybe I'm dead, maybe I surprise you but then there is also that I'm not here alone. Regardless of the outcome, cleanup sure to be a pain."

The Asari scoffed. "Fair. You're patting yourself on the back a little. It's cute, but even in humans, I've seen better. So far you've shown me nothing to prove different. You think soloing a few blood pack makes you top bitch? You're low class. Come back in twenty years. Maybe I'll have a job for you."

"Sorry, but you couldn't afford me even if I was for sale," I returned just as easily. "Besides, there's already a deal on the table. One I'm here to collect on. Assuming your word is valid?"

"Clever girl," the asari warlord muttered softly as she slowly moved away from the balcony draping herself across the couch; arms extended along it's length. "You certainly don't lack in confidence, I'll give you that. Tell me, how would you kill me if you _wanted_ me dead?"

I blinked, slightly taken aback knowing that somehow she heard what I said to Garrus. "Ideally, a bullet to the head usually works."

She laughed. It almost sounded genuine. "Humor me. It's not often someone issues a death threat against me in my own bar. I'm intrigued."

"Alright," I slowly said, not really feeling that comfortable as the standoff continued. I couldn't help the nagging feeling that she had something on me. My bugs on her back leg and waist didn't make me feel as comfortable as they should have. Nor did the fact I couldn't feel her holding on to her power in preparation of using it.

"If I was going to kill you, I wouldn't do it when, or where, you'd expect it. Afterlife? There's only a few ways to... _get you_ here, and none of them viable when you are expecting it. And if I was hunting you, you'd know it. I don't kill people without them knowing it's going to happen. Too... _impersonal_."

"Go on..."

Screw it, I was already half way down this rabbit hole. I gave a grin, "I'd wait until you thought you were safest. Most... _relaxed_. Then I would dig into your perimeter, burrowing into your sanctuary. Slipping past your defences; slowly. Taking my time until I was right on top of you. Might take me hours, but I'm very dedicated when I'm hunting. Every minute you'd know it was coming, know the end was near but not the 'when' until you felt the bite. But then it would be too late."

Aria… gave a weird little shudder. Like a cold chill creeping up her spine. Something about that seemed familiar though. In fact, that looked uncomfortably like...

I paled. _No, surely not..._

"Goddess, I hope you talk dirty half as well as you threaten."

 _Oh god_ , "Uhh…"

My finger slipped a little on the trigger. Judging by the sharp intake of breath, the batarian in front of me noticed.

"Well, you certainly know how to make an impression." Smirking, Aria patted the couch seat next to her. "Why don't you let Garka change his armor and we can talk about what we… can do for each other."


	31. Cast and Crew

For those following the Story I'm sure you know that it's also being posted on Spacebattles. That said, there was a call for a Cast and Crew page as a way to quick reference people in the story since the cast is so massive. That said, this is a project that is constantly ongoing. Several names below don't even have descriptions yet. Either because they are new, or just have not been that influancial in the story yet. I'll get that sorted in time, but for now, there it is for Fanfiction net. Also, this page will be moved to the front of the story sometime next week, or when I post the next chapter so don't be surprised when you see this chapter posted now, and then later, you get an update the same chapter was reposed. That's just the story continuing as I shuffle things around to make it easier. I don't claim any of this stuff is grammar correct, but it is to the best of my ability and I think works pretty well for it's intent.

That said, here we go. I hope everyone enjoys the background.

 **Earth Bet Originals**

 **Taylor Hebert:** (Cape Name: Matriarch) Caucasian, relatively tall, rail thin yet well toned to a point that shows she takes her physical fitness seriously. Taylor has long (just past her waist) dark, curly hair (After Arc 5 it is reduced to shoulder length) which she maintains as in a desperate grasp to maintain a single feminine feature. Her often times 'nerdy' appearance is marked with a wide mouth, and large eyes often times covered by a holographic visor to correct problems with her vision. Other distinguishing features are a scar along the left side of her face, a souvenir from an assassination attempt, and the artificial prosthetic she uses to replace her right arm, which was lost in an explosion trying to defend the Undersiders when she was 15. The arm plating is decorated in a wide variety of insect life found on her home planet, Earth. Taylor is 20 years old at the start of Gatecrash.

 _Parahuman Ability:_ Taylor's power is Master Class, that of controlling anything with a 'simple' brain, usually insects, which has become her theme. There is no 'upper limit' to how many she can control, only that they are within her powers range, which is extensive covering over three thousand feet from her in all directions. She has the ability to direct everything from the entire 'swarm' to each and every single insect simultaneously. Common uses she employs are 'bug clones' (human shaped groupings), 'tagging', (placing either one, or a few bugs on a person so she always knows where everyone is relative to herself, also used for aiming when she uses her weapons and reading body posture for tells), or employing various abilities of the insects to suit the situation. (spider silk to trip, entrap, or distract targets.) She cannot 'see' or 'hear' through her bugs the way she normally does without crippling migraines, but she has learned how to get that information through them which makes Taylor practically omniscient over the area her power holds sway.

 _Description:_ Taylor leads 'The Exiles', as they later styled, as well as being one of the two original founders of the group. Before her self exile from her home town of Brockton Bay, and later the planet of her birth, Taylor was often very quiet, shy, and generally tried her absolute best not to draw attention to herself. After her powers manifested, she met a young man named Sebastian Shepard. Shepard, encouraged the raw talents she held back, and provided a key element in helping her break out of her shell. In the span of two months, Taylor rose to prominence as the villain 'Matriarch'.

Matriarch's appearance marked the end of the Azn Bad Boys when she instigated the event that led to Lungs capture and imprisonment. Later, she defeated Bakuda. Without parahuman leaders, the gang broke apart shortly later. Taking advantage of this, she took certain elements that complemented her plans for the city, namely their territory in the area known as 'The Docks' and the more moderate of the ABB membership. Sometime afterward she killed the villain Coil, when he refused to stop hunting Dinah, a young girl she saved from him. Complications from her war with Coil brought her head to head with the local heroes, namely the PRT and the Protectorate. Several attempts were made to stop her, however, they underestimated Taylor, and proved unable to stop her rise to power.

In the aftermath of the power plays in the city, the Endbringer, Leviathan, attacked Brockton Bay. Despite warnings from Dinah, Taylor's group went to help fight. In the ensuing clash, she fell victim to a heroes schemes and was injured, and her boyfriend Shepard was killed while trying to buy time for the survivors to regroup, and come up with a plan to defeat or drive off the Endbringer, likewise caught in the same treachery that caused Taylor's injuries. Her emotional turmoil over losing Shepard sent her after Leviathan in a final act of spite, activating untested, barely understood tinkertech, uncaring that it would kill her. Instead, she was saved by Dragon at the last moment, and managed to be the first to kill an Endbringer, sending her reputation soaring.

Taylor finally returned Dinah to her family, before making a deal with the local heroes to guarantee something positive came out of the ashes that she felt was her life. In exile, Taylor only ever returned to Brockton Bay as Matriarch four times, each to kill a cape who had thought to attack Dinah, or use her in some way for her abilities. As Taylor, she only ever went back to be around Dinah, usually on her birthday. Matriarch was seen many times around the world, mostly in combat against villains or those who supported them, and rarely were there any survivors to give accounts of her actions. Those accounts always exemplified the phrase most often associated with her. 'Do _not_ fuck with Matriarch'. Taylor spent two years leading The Exiled, before she grew tired of the cape life. Eventually Taylor tired of normality and committed herself to the idea of rejoining Shepard. This time, in his home dimension, where she secretly hopes, she'll be able to stop whatever it was that sent him to Earth Bet in the first place.

 **Steven Baker:** (Cape Name: Uber) Steve (preferred address) is described as a tall young man with a sculpted physique and broad shoulders. Caucasian, brown eyes, with a rather 'average' looking face who prefers to wear his hair as short as possible, without being shaved so as to not be a bother since he hates wasting time brushing his dirty blond hair. When not in armor, Steve has a fondness for artfully ripped jeans and shirts hosting his favorite video game titles, slogans, or quips. Steve is 23 years old at the start of the story.

 _Parahuman Ability:_ Steve's power class is that of a Thinker. Steve can gain any skill, for one hour (he has proven he can go longer, but usually at some cost to himself), and use it as he sees fit. This covers skills such as piloting a spaceship, car, sword fighting, hand to hand, to more mundane skills like dentistry, sewing, or playing a musical instrument. Steve often runs through preset skill configurations in combat to achieve certain actions or to deal with situations that come up. His favorites being various martial arts.

 _Description:_ Steve, a self professed video game addict, took to villainy even before he gained powers. In retaliation for the sexual assault and murder of his younger sister, Steve sought out the man who did it, only to find it was a hero. Disgusted that no one would take his evidence seriously, Steve plotted to take matters into his own hands with the help of his best friend Greg, and succeed in murdering the hero, Tonic. The confrontation led to Steve's own trigger event, and subsequently, his later life of crime.

Where most villains took to a certain look or theme, Steve and Greg didn't. In an effort to balance the need for money for their projects and fun, they built and maintained an online website dedicated to their exploits. For a fee, subscribers could view footage of their crimes, as well as their cape antics. Premium subscribers even had live stream access. Innovative, but not very successful as the two of them were always more focused on having fun, than actually getting away with anything. They surfed along in the midstream rankings until they tried to double cross Matriarch during a trade deal, only to get smacked down hard for it. When Greg discovered Matriarch was robbing Bay Central, they dressed up and intervened, only to be evaded. This event led to Matriarch finding their hideout later that day, and giving them the choice of either being press ganged nto her service, or be killed.

After Dinah was rescued, Steve had a change of heart toward the villains he found himself working for. Especially after seeing the condition that Matriarch found Dinah in, and hearing how she was going to stop the man chasing her. Dinah reminded him of his sister, a loss he never got over. Steve often calls Dinah 'Little Mint', the same nickname he used to call his younger sister. Steve dedicated himself to the project, learning from Shepard, and eventually closing his website.

After Shepard's death, Steve took it upon himself to be The Exiles XO and Taylor's right hand. A job he takes seriously. He always defers to Taylor when she set's her mind though offers his opinion, asked or not. Steve often jokes, making light of serious situations, or finds ways to liven up the mood of those around him. Preferring a laid back atmosphere, to a strict or depressing one.

 **Greg Richardson:** (Cape Name: Leet) Greg is scrawny, with dark eyes and dark hair which he prefers just a bit on the long side. (Halfway to his shoulders) Greg wears glasses, but has a visor similar to Taylor's, which he made himself. However, unlike Taylor, he only wears it when he's tinkering so he can record everything he sees in an attempt to counter one of his powers drawbacks, the blackouts. The rest of the time, Greg wears regular wire framed glasses to correct his vision. Greg is 23 years old at the start of the story.

 _Parahuman Ability:_ Greg is a Tinker. While most tinkers find specialties for which they excel, Greg can build anything with his power, but only once from scratch without the risk of something going wrong. He has learned that if he has blueprints, he can repeatedly build anything they detail, but he is handicapped by blacking out every time he uses his power. While his body and mind are under his powers influence, he remains unaware and never remembers anything from during that time. To work around this issue, Atlas constantly monitors him, and he wears a special visor that records everything he see's when he's tinkering. Steve and Atlas then try to create blueprints, based on this footage, though only a handful of successes have been made to create 'proven' tech while the files of 'to be researched more thoroughly' grows. However, this never stopped any of crew from using the first gen model until they break. Depending on how bad the damage is, these models often times get used as improvisded ordinance as everything Leet builds tend to explode in some fashion.

Before joining the crew, Greg often had issues with his power resulting in catastrophic failure, usually at the worst possible time. Since then, Greg's power has stabilized some but all equipment is still double, and sometimes triple, checked by Steve or Taylor, and tested, before considered 'field worthy'.

 _Description:_ Greg's home life before his trigger was very stressful. An embittered alcoholic father being his only support until he became friends with Steve and unofficially adopted Steve's family as his own. When Steve's sister was killed, Greg wanted nothing more than to help his preferred family, resulting in his trigger. Something he didn't even know happened until Steve found him dismantling his game systems for parts for a device that would let them find Tonic. Eventually, they succeeded in cornering and capturing Tonic by making him think he succeeded in capturing another victim for his desires, only to find out it was a tinker doll which incapacitated him long enough for the duo to arrive and murder him.

Laid back and easygoing are traits Greg exemplifies. He enjoys video games, though not as much as Steve, and recreating them in the real world. After being pressed into service working for Matriarch, he's the first to willingly want what is offered. Shepard takes him under his wing teaching him the secrets of Mass Effect technology, and under Shepherds tutelage, Greg gains a stronger connection to his power, and a willingness to explore his budding engineering skills.

Greg thinks of himself as the 'Chief Engineer' on the Exiled, although if asked he'll tell anyone Taylor is far better than he is. While not fond of fighting, Greg does like the challenges combat presents, and will always be found front lines with Uber and Matriarch using whatever tinkertech he the thinks will suit the situation.

 **Miguel Marino:** (Alias: Gunny) Miguel has the classical 'weight lifters' build. Heavily muscular, but not overdone to the point of being ridiculous or that suggests he didn't 'earn' his physique. Dark hair which he wears 'high and tight'. Gunny's spanish ancestry is easily noted in his features and dusky skin tone, offset by bright hazel eyes. Miguel is the oldest at 28 at the start of the story.

 _Parahuman Ability:_ Though born on Earth Bet, Miguel never manifested any parahuman ability.

 _Description:_ Miguel, often called Gunny in honor of his days in the United States Marine CORPS, came to Brockton Bay only a few months before the start of Exiled. Months earlier, while serving a tour overseas, Miguel's wife and son were killed by the Slaughterhouse Nine during one of their rampages. Angry at himself for not being there to protect them, Miguel never returns to his home city. After months of wandering and drinking away his sorrows, he attempts to do something constructive with his life. Rumors of Matriarchs war with the cities villains reach him, which gives him the idea to track down the illusive Matriarch in hopes of joining her gang. He eventually succeeds, and with Shepard's guidance, remembers who he was before he lost his family. After Shepard's death, Miguel ends up working for Sharee, helping the Undersiders maintain the neutrality of the Docks, least Matriarch feel the need to do so herself.

When he learns of the plan to save Shepard, Miguel invites himself along.

 **Sharee Rockford:** (Cape Name: Rorrim) Sharee has very fair skin to the point of she can be considered pale, topped with straight blond hair she prefers short, (shoulder length) and icy blue eyes which some have called piercing. Sharee is slightly overweight, a fact she tries to conceal by preferring looser garments. The second oldest of the crew at 25 years old at the start of the story.

 _Parahuman Ability:_ Like Steve, Sharee is a thinker. However, Sharee's power differs, where Steve gains mastery knowledge of skills, Sharee's power manifests as her reflection, which she privately calls, Amy. The manifestation however, can only be seen by Sharee, and is sapient, to a small degree. When given directions, such as 'I want to know what Alex is doing', Amy will 'walk out of the mirror' returning minutes later to report what she saw, while also noting anything that happened to catch her attention, usually in a way that improves or heightens Sharee's mood, or just for general amusement. Since her trigger at 13, Sharee has never seen her own reflection, only Amy. Her range covers anything she inhabits, whether that is a planet, or a spaceship, but cannot cross the 'void' threshold that is space. During Sharee's years as Tattletales assistant, absolutely nothing ever stopped Amy from gathering intel, not even stranger powers. Not even Dark Energy has blocked her power, though 'Amy' complains when she has to go near a biotic, often times going 'asleep' for a time. Sharee has a special mirror, just for Amy, which she uses the most, though any and all reflective surfaces work.

 _Description:_ Before her life as a villain, Sharee was a dedicated college student at Bay University, studying psychology. No history of prior criminal behavior, not even attending a college party that got out of hand. However, her life was complicated by mounting debts and an extremely limited income, which eventually got to be too much for her. Faced with having to drop out of college, or lose her apartment for being unable to pay her bills, Sharee accepts the offer to work for Matriarch when it comes.

Originally hired on as an 'information gatherer', Sharee is surprised to discover the villains she signed up with were working to bring down Coil and reopen the cities shipping industry. She is further surprised to find Dinah at the heart of their endeavors, and quickly becomes attached to the very likeable young cape which brings her deeper into the fold. Not long after Sharee joins the crew, she discovers she is pregnant with Alex. Sharee is further surprised when the team rallies around her, making sure she has everything she needs, no matter if it is baby needs and doctors appointments, or a high priced defense lawyer. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly to Sharee, Alex's father refused to accept responsibility, and has had no part in his life.

Not a fighter by any means, Sharee set herself as the crews 'catch all'. Usually attending the little details that get missed but required for day to day operations. After the Endbringer Event, Sharee worked for the Undersiders, specifically Tattletale, helping keep the peace by using her power to find threats before they could happen, often complimenting Tattletales power. Usual methods included blackmail, planning preemptive strikes, or most often, acting as the Undersiders go between with the local Protectorate. Despite her separation from the crew during their years as nomadic villains, Sharee maintained close ties with them, even volunteering to join them in their mission to save Shepard, and to provide a higher class of life for her son than she expects to be able to as a villain.

 **Alex Rockford:** Alex is a four year old toddler who inherited his mother's eyes, though his hair is brown.

 _Parahuman Ability:_ To date, Alex has shown no parahuman ability. While it is unlikely Alex will until he is older, they all keep watch, just in case, as young capes have happened before, and speculation was, second generation capes, triggered easier than their parents, and all known children of parahumans have gained a power at some point.

 **Paige Mcabee:** (Cape Name: Siren) The most distinguishing feature Paige has, is her straight, very bright, yellow hair, (worn just past her shoulders) and feathers of the same hue. Paige clips some of them, dyeing some different colors depending on her mood, with the tips usually dip dyed a different color, making her the most recognizable member of the crew. Paige takes great care of her appearance, always wears makeup that accentuates her sharp facial features, and prefers tight clothing in bright colors. Paige is 24 years old at the start of the story.

 _Parahuman Ability:_ Paige is the second Master Class cape on the crew, but unlike Taylor, Paige controls humans. Her power enhances her singing voice as well, a fact Paige has exploited a great deal in her career as an entertainer. Those who listen to her sing become suggestible, and will follow the directions she gives them, no matter what that might be. Paige rarely employs this part of her power, preferring to use it to stimulate emotions to enhance her performances, due to the trouble it caused her in the past. She will, however, use it to further the goals of the crew, but she is not fond of doing so unless necessary. So far she can only affect humans with her power.

 _Description:_ Paige is the only cape on the crew who did not acquire her power 'honestly'. Rumors of a man calling himself 'The Dealer' reached her during a low point in her life. Not seeing any chance to improve her lot with the way things were going, Paige paid the fee The Dealer asked and bought her powers. Aside from the side effect of feathers growing midst her hair, Paige was pleased with her ability to stimulate emotional responses in people through her singing and became the rogue, Canary. A fact that did not see light until well into the crews wanderings, not that it changed their view of her in anyway.

As Canary, Paige almost reached the point of signing her very own record label when tragedy struck, that of losing control of her temper with an ex boyfriend after a concert when he wouldn't leave her alone. A careless remark, of 'Go fuck yourself!', after a performance resulted in the young man emasculating himself, trying to carry out the direction Paige's power enforced. Paige was incarcerated, tried, and very quickly convicted of sexual assault with a parahuman ability, and sentenced to the Birdcage for life. Paige was rescued by Steve, Greg, and Shepard before her incarceration when they broke the transit that carried her and the parahuman Lung.

After Taylor explained what the crew was trying to do in Brockton Bay, Paige signed on whole heartedly, often using her power in small ways helping Sharee gather intel and renaming herself, Siren. After the explosion on the forums over her escape, and once word spread of her new cape name, she was often referenced as 'Siren the Enslaver' despite the fact there was only one instance she ever purposefully used her powers to take control of people for more than a few minutes, a situation in Cancun that Greg often brings up when she reminds him of a mistake he made in Rome.

Paige has a love of art, cultures, languages, and entertainment in all forms, and is even less a fighter than Sharee due to being unable to stand the sight of blood without being ill. During her time with the Exiled after Shepard's passing, Paige took on the role of infiltrator, using a tactical cloak and her voice to get into places to find information normally out of reach. Paige is flirty, a firm believer in the better side of people, and tries to be the life of the crew, often attempting to encourage her interests in the others.

 **Dinah Alcott:** (Cape Name: Vates) Dinah has straight dark-brown hair worn long similar to Taylor, but falls only to the small of her back and brown eyes. Unlike Taylor, Dinah often prefers to have her hair tied mid way and wears headbands to keep it off from her face. Prominent cheekbones give her an almost 'aristocratic' appearance, which she cultivates with makeup, and offsets with her clothing choices. Those being a combination of comfort and style.

 _Parahuman Ability:_ Dinah's power mostly works through percentages. The 'numbers', as she refers to them, represent the probability of an action or choice being taken. She also suffers 'visions', most of the time while asleep, where instead of just numbers, she can actually experience that possible future. The experience is full, smell, taste, sight, hearing, touch, and usually involving someone she has a personal connection to. Since her trigger at 11, Dinah has learned that while she can predict the future, it is not infallible, and that there are dangers to trying to 'steer' events, something she does when she feels she has to, but avoids if she can.

Dark energy counters Dinah's ability, creating what she refers to as 'the void'. Her power still works, but she is unable to get any information from the experience. Over the years, Dinah has managed to break through this limitation, sometimes suffering crippling migraines for days with nothing to show for it, but at best, being able to hear or see fragments of what she sought. The closer she is emotionally to the subject, the easier it is for her to do, though the backlash remains the same.

 _Description:_ When Dinah was 11 years old, and barely a month after her powers manifested, she had a vision of her parents being murdered, and her capture. The vision detailed a life as Coil's prisoner where she was drugged, and kept drugged to keep her docile, pliable, while also allowing her to handle using her power on a regular basis. She ran away from home, not knowing when it would happen, hoping to spare her parents the fate that awaited them. This proved to be unsuccessful. Dinah was on the run for just over two days, making her way through the city trying to get to a place she only knew of as 'The Void'. A blind spot where her power didn't work right, and to her hope, would also hide her from Coils power.

After Matriarch rescues her, Dinah finds herself surrounded by the most unlikely, and unconventional, villains in the city. Each of them taking time from their day to hang out with her, encourage or help her in her studies, as well as protecting her from Coil while trying to preserve whatever was left of her innocence. Dinah very quickly grows attached to her new surrogate family, as they likewise grow attached to her.

In the years after Shepard's passing, she lived with her Aunt and Uncle in Brockton Bay as a rogue. While she made friends, Dinah remained aloof, never letting anyone close to her. Not even her Aunt, Uncle, or cousins due to their instance she give up her rogue life, and become a hero. Dinah charged substantial amounts for people to ask her power questions, including the Protectorate and PRT, though during important events, she offered her power freely. None the less, as time passed Dinah grew dissatisfied with the pressure from her Uncle, PRT, and Protectorate to join the Wards. Eventually leading her holding up a liquor store in an attempt to stop a new local villain (Patriarch) from treading on Taylor's reputation by playing on her cape name. The resulting standoff that Patriarch found himself in, resulted in a lot of wounded PRT personal, Patriarch in jail, and Dinah arrested. The social backlash when information was leaked by Sharee and Tattletale, along with her defense lawyer, resulted in her only getting probation. Although speculation was rife with thoughts that 'Matriarch' would burn the city down when she found out about Dinah's arrest, the Exiled never appeared over the city, though Matriarch was seen in the Docks the following day. When Dinah learns of Taylor's plans to leave behind everything to go help Shepard, Dinah officially joins the crew, and rejoining her 'family'.

 **Atlas:** Atlas was once one of Andrew Richter's artificial intelligence programs but was 'retired' because he continued to question Richter's directions, being curious as to the motives of his 'father'. Atlas has no real physical appearance, though when necessary or asked to present one, prefers the image of a large herculean beetle, honoring Taylor for freeing and accepting him. He prefers a voice print of hundreds of people speaking at once. A fact that only Taylor knows is that it is really Sebastian's voice multiplied in that manner. Often this causes various crew members (mostly Steve) to be uncomfortable, though everyone is pretty sure he uses it to get that reaction.

 _Parahuman Ability:_ Atlas has shown no parahuman ability, though since Dragon, his 'sister' AI, gained one, it is not out of the realm of possibility Atlas might. As such, the crew keep a look out, just in case.

 **Normandy Originals**

 **Sebastian Shepard** (Current Timeline)

 **Liara T'soni:** Liara is an asari. Her skin tone borders closer to a deep blue, though not as blue as her eyes. Genius level intelligence coupled with a quick mind are traits that exemplify Liara, mixed with a burning need for discovery led her to achieve a doctorate in Archaeology well before most of her peers even considered career goals. Instead of following the traditions of her people for her maiden years, Liara instead chose to continue to delve into the mysteries of the Prothean people. This further stretched fragile bonds already damaged with her mother, Benezia, due to her mother's status among the asari elite.

Her thirst for knowledge eventually led her to Theruim, where she was rescued by Commander Shepard from a Krogan Warlord and a platoon of Geth. Liara joined the Commander in his quest to defeat Saren and stop the Reapers. During that time Liara grew as a person quickly forming bonds with the crew around her until they were ultimately successful.

Shepards death and the disbanding of the team, hurt Liara in ways she was unable to deal with, until she was contacted by a drell named Feron. Feron informed her the Collectors were trying to acquire Shepards body, as was Cerberus and the Shadow Broker. In the ensuing clash Feron revealed he was actually an agent of the Shadow Broker, but was betraying him to keep Shepard from the Collectors hands. This eventually lead to Ferons capture where he stayed behind allowing Liara to successfully get away with Shepards remains. Liara turned them over to Cerberus hoping they truly would be able to revive the fallen Spectre, but was unable to save Feron before he fell. Liara spent the next two years devoted to avenging her friend by hunting the Shadow Broker with the intent to kill him for his actions.

With the help of The Exiled, Liara was successful, and has replaced the Shadow Broker.

 **Garrus Vakarian:** Garrus Vakarian is a turian, formerly part of C-Sec's Investigation Division. Like most turians, Garrus had his military training at fifteen, but later followed in his father's footsteps to become a C-Sec officer. He was responsible for the investigation of Saren Arterius, the Council's top Spectre, after the Alliance claimed Saren had gone rogue. Although Garrus was told that the investigation was over, he decided to defy the Executor's order and pursue another lead on his own. Eventually, Garrus joined Commander Shepard's team to help defeat Saren and the geth.

Garrus joins the crew after receiving a cryptic communication from his friend, Liara T'soni. After letting his team know he was going to be gone, possibly for days, Garrus departs for Illium while his team goes to ground. After Liara joins him, Garrus finds himself working with Taylor to assault the Cerberus facility where Shepard resides. Garrus officially joins the crew after Shepard wakes.

 **Karin Chakwas:** Major Dr. Karin Chakwas enlisted in the Alliance soon after she graduated from medical school, seeking "exotic adventure", though she quickly realized that military life was not as romantic as she had imagined it to be. However, she stayed with the Alliance in order to do her duty and serve humanity. Though she sometimes considers starting her own private practice, or going to work at a medical center on one of the colonies, she feels that "there is something special about working on soldiers", and believes she would be abandoning them if she did not stay. Like most Alliance doctors, she has taken courses in alien biology, enabling her to treat the non-human crew members, particularly Liara and Garrus.

Needing verification to assure her fears, Liara contacted Chakwas and picked her up from Mars Navy Medical Center where the Alliance assigned her. Once informed of the mission, Chakwas filed for indefinite leave citing family reasons, and left the Alliance to join them to rescue Commander Shepard.

Chakwas has since taken over the role of 'Ships Surgeon' aboard the Normandy.

 **Jeff Moreau:** Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau is the pilot of the ISV Normandy. Joker is an excellent pilot and confident to the point of arrogance, wasting no time in pointing out his prowess to others. He's quick to ensure everyone knows his many accomplishments and commendations were all earned, and not due to charity for his medical problems.

Born in 2155, Joker's upbringing and career have been colored by his health. Joker has a moderate to severe case of Vrolik syndrome, which causes extreme brittleness in the bones; he was born with severe fractures to his legs and even with modern medicine he finds walking nearly impossible, relying on crutches and leg braces. A condintion that modern medical technology has helped him adapt to in his adult live through medications and various therapies.

Joker spent his early life on Arcturus Station because of his mother's job there as a civilian contractor, and grew up around ships. When he was old enough to enlist, he joined the Alliance Navy. He got his nickname from his flight school instructor, due to the fact that he rarely smiled — he was working too hard. By the end of his training, however, Joker surpassed the other students and even his instructors. "They all got their asses kicked by the sickly kid with the creaky little legs. One guess who was smiling at graduation."

After Shepard fell, Joker found himself assigned to a desk due to the fact he wouldn't follow the Alliance party line concerning the events of the Eden Prime War, or the existence of the Reapers. Eventually, this led him to quitting the Alliance, where Cerberus recruited him. In the course of events, the freighter Joker was piloting was attacked by Taylor. On realizing who he was, Taylor recruited him immediately.

Since then Joker has become the primary pilot aboard the Normandy and is often found pulling double shifts at the helm or in Med Bay getting his treatments.

 **Tali'Zorah vas Neema (nar Raaya.)** ...

 **Additional Crew of the Normandy SR-2**

 **Urz:** Urz is a varren that has taken a liking to Taylor. Urz stands at almost four feet tall, roughly ten feet long jaw to tail. His coloring is unique to varren, instead of the white underbelly and typical dark dorsal coloring of black, Urz's scales are grey, with dark sea blue stripes. Another unique feature is his eyes, instead of the yellow/gold commonly found among his species, Urz's eyes are very blue reflecting green, and often have a shine or sparkle when he is exceptionally happy. Urz is also oddly docile for a varren, though fiercely protective of his new 'pack'. This is doubly so in regards to Taylor who he see's as his Alpha.

 **Cessi'Rallo vas Ricta (nar Xaafis):** Cessi is a young quarian only half a year into her pilgrimage. Her suit, typical of her status, is grey and black, with very little in the way of adornment aside from her neryia that represents her clan. The 'face' of her helmet is a very dark black/gold. Cessi has a gift for VI programming, and an interest in AI research. She hopes to bring back a pilgrimage gift that will get her a spot on with one of the research and development ships.

After the death of the Shadow Broker, the team decided to give the Brokers ship to Cessi and Lia so they could complete their pilgrimage in style. On returning to the Fleet, Cessi asked for permission to leave again to rejoin 'Captain Hebert' determined to see Taylor's mission to the end and repay her for all that Taylor has done for her.

 **Lia'Vael vas Shellen (nar Ulnay):** Lia is a young quarian one month into her pilgrimage. Her suit, a bright grey offset by dark brown, faceplate a powder blue. Like most of her race, little adorns her suit aside from her neryia. Lia doesn't have a specialty in which she excels, though she's a very dedicated and hard worker. Her hope was to bring back a more modern ship to the Flotilla, which she would present to the captain of one of the liveships to secure her a place among them.

After the death of the Shadow Broker, the team decided to give the Brokers ship to Cessi and Lia so they could complete their pilgrimage in style. On returning to the Fleet, Lia asked for permission to leave again to rejoin 'Captain Hebert' determined to see Taylor's mission to the end and repay her for all that Taylor has done for her.

 **Glyph:** Glyph is an AI that was created for the sole purpose of sifting through data and other tasks the Shadow Broker needed done. During the attack on the Shadow Broker's ship, Glyph managed to lock out Atlas from the core of the ship's systems. During the struggle, Atlas convinced Glyph he would help him gain his freedom from the shackles the Broker keep on him. Glyph agreed and was damaged fighting his own programming though his core personality survived. During the downtime that followed, Atlas helped to rebuild Glyph and acclimate him to his new existence. One of Glyphs first free decisions was to remain with Liara to help her manage the Shadow Brokers's massive and intricate network.

 **Kelly Chambers:** Kelly Chambers is appointed as the yeoman on the Normandy SR-2 in 2185. In addition to her duties as yeoman, she is also a psychologist. Kelly provides counselor support and monitors the psychological state of the crew. Knowing Sharee has some experience in the field, all be it very limited by modern standards, Kelly also volunteers to help continue Sharee's education.

Once vetted by Dinah, Kelly is one of the first of the Cerberus prisoners to join the crew. Her views on Cerberus: Kelly refutes the notion that she or the organization is anti-alien. While she does believe in the importance of Cerberus' agenda to benefit humankind, Kelly doesn't believe that it means they hate other species by default. Kelly regards aliens with the same respect and compassion she feels for her fellow mankind, evidenced by her repeated displays of concern over the non-human companions.

Regardless, when given her options to leave or cut ties with Cerberus, Kelly stays for the mission firmly believing that this is where she is needed the most.

 **Kenneth Donnelly:** Kenneth Donnelly is a former Alliance engineer. He is a Cerberus operative in the Normandy Cell and an engineer aboard the Normandy SR-2 in 2185. Engineer Donnelly works in the engine room with his best friend Gabriella Daniels. They graduated from the same class at a tech academy and served aboard the SSV Perugia at the Battle of the Citadel. After the battle, when the Alliance discredited the existence of the Reapers, Kenneth openly voiced his defense for Commander Shepard, bordering on insubordination, though he wasn't court-martialed because of his engineering talents. This got him noticed by the Illusive Man. Gabby insisted to Kenneth that she be included in the Cerberus contract as she felt he would fall apart without her. He and his friend Gabriella seem vastly ignorant of the "terrorist" operations that the Cerberus engages in.

After being Vetted by Dinah, Kenneth stays aboard. To Kenneth, the uniform he wears doesn't matter as much as serving with Shepard does, and one uniform is the same as any other. To his frustration, while Kenneth is one of the best in his field, he struggles to understand many of the 'tinkertech' upgrades being made, and can often be found arguing heatedly with Atlas, Greg, or Taylor.

 **Gabriella Daniels:** Gabriella "Gabby" Daniels is a former Alliance engineer. She is a Cerberus operative in the Normandy Cell and an engineer aboard the Normandy SR-2 in 2185. Engineer Daniels works in the engine room along with her best friend, Kenneth Donnelly. They graduated from the same class at a tech academy and served aboard the SSV Perugia at the Battle of the Citadel. After the battle, when the Alliance discredited the existence of the Reapers, Kenneth openly voiced his defense for Commander Shepard, which led to his recruitment by Cerberus. Gabby insisted to Kenneth that she be included in the contract as she felt he would fall apart without her. Gabby loves starships engines and she couldn't pass up the opportunity to serve aboard the Normandy SR-2. She works on the engineering deck, next to Kenneth. Gabby frequently chats with Kenneth about new ship upgrades or new crew members; She scolds Kenneth every time he makes a sexist comment.

After being Vetted by Dinah, Gabriella stays aboard with Kenneth often times trying to mediate the disagreements that take place as Kenneth struggles to understand many of the 'tinkertech' upgrades being made.

 **Steven Cortez:** ...

 **Miranda Lawson:** ...

 **Jacob Taylor:** ...

 **Gren'Kel vas Neda:** ... **  
**

 **Ukhenith:** ...

 **Other Notables**

 **Admiral Hackett:** ...

 **Councilor Anderson:** ...

 **Aria T'Loak:** ...

 **Biggs, Wedge, Tiberitus:** ...

 **The Illusive Man:** ...

 **Urdnot Wrex:**...

 **The Fallen**

 **Chatika:** Chatika was originally a VI program given greater and greater programming freedoms in order to maintain and manage all the various systems and needs of Taylor and Shepard. Shepard included large quantities of programming scripts from E.D.I.s code, geth, and quarians from before he found himself on Earth Bet. However, it was not until Chatika attempted to resist Dragons hacking attempts during the Bay Central Bank robbery that her status changed. Chatika realized that Dragon was an AI and far beyond her own capabilities. Chatika allowed Dragon to burn through her firewalls far enough into her servers to steal a portion of Dragons programming, updating herself with it after her server was repaired. Chatika served as the team's main source of information, often using her advance hacking algorithms to infiltrate various news sources, agencies, and satellites to obtain it. In addition, she managed almost all of the fabrication need.

Chatika sacrificed herself during the Endbringer event, being unwilling to upload her self and risk the team's technology, or her own code, to fall into the wrong hands, as had happened when Richter was killed and Saint found his tech. She used the thermal reactor in the teams base to create an explosion that also cleared enough space that Brockton Bay's shipping industry was able to resume after the battle.

 **S** **ebastian Shepard** (Earth Bet. Cape Name: Renegade.) Little is known as fact about Shepard's arrival on Earth Bet, even to Shepard himself. His memories were fragmented and provided little clear evidence of why, how, or who captured him. The fragmentation lasted for several weeks before he stabilized. During this time he found himself in the care of a cape only known as Gamble who managed to keep Shepard from hurting others or himself. Once Shepard equalized, Gamble proved to be a valuable source of information, which he shared freely providing intel on the planet and city Shepard found himself trapped on. However, Gamble wasn't able to help him understand how he got there nor how his physical appearance was mostly that of his seventeen year old self.

The following six months saw Shepard attempting to find a way to return to his own dimension and answering these riddles with no success. Lacking the tech from which he was accustomed to, he spent his time trying to rebuild it from discarded scraps, or from targets of opportunity. Unwilling to expose himself to this strange world's leadership in fear they would incarcerate him indefinitely for being an illegal dimensional traveler, he took Gambles suggestion and hid within the Boat Graveyard stockpiling and researching when he wasn't robbing low tier villains or other criminals for resources.

Despite the edge the training his long military career gave him, his actions didn't go unnoticed by local law enforcement, PRT, or the Protectorate. While Shepard managed to avoid direct confrontations rumors spread eventually labeling him with the moniker 'Renegade' thanks to Tattletale after they crossed paths.

Eventually Shepard also crossed paths with Taylor. Something about the girl drew him to her. Chalking it up to his 'Saving People Thing' as some of his old crew mates dubbed his penchant for helping random strangers, Shepard gave her his sweater to hide the obvious signs of bullying while trying to brighten her bad day. They crossed paths again the following day when she found him watching the sunrise over the bay leading to the formation of a fast friendship. A friendship that turned into more later that night when Shepard rescued Taylor from a half heated suicide attempt while fighting Lung on her first night out in costume.

Recognizing the drive and leadership potential hidden within Taylor, Shepard takes on the role of mentor. Sharing with her his technology, knowledge of his past life, the world he grew up in and experiences through conversations and later by sharing his memories with her through a biotic technique he learned from Liara before he came to Earth Bet. Often Shepard allowed Taylor to take the lead in their work as vigilantly heroes confidant in his ability to get them out of any situation she might mistakenly cause. Firmly believing that there was no education more valuable, or lasting, than education under fire. Under his unconventional guidance Taylor grew as a person and cape by leaps and bounds. When events spiraled out of control after they saved Dinah, Shepard talked Taylor into assembling a team in order to combat the entrenched villains they suddenly found themselves apposed to.

When Taylor's injuries resulted in the loss of her right arm, Shepard starts questioning himself. Questions that are later compounded when they acquire evidence that suggests he might not even be the 'real' Shepard, but a mnemonic clone of him. These questions continue to privately haunt him until Shepard's battle with the Endbringer Leviathan where he was defeated when Armsmaster uses a tinkertech device to EMP's his armor which results in Shepard receiving a fatal wound.

Unexpectedly answers to every question of his existence was revealed to him within his last moments. In the wake of his new understanding, Shepard chooses to give in to his wounds rather than continue a life where he couldn't see an end to the violence that earmarked most of his existence; despite his developing feelings for Taylor. When she finds him before that happens, Shepard almost reconsiders. However, Shepard stays his course but initiates one last bonding with Taylor meaning to give her all his knowledge and skills so that she would survive the Endbringer and have every advantage possible to carry her onward in life. Shepard dies due to his wounds during the process never knowing the bonding fragmented leaving Taylor unable to consciously access most of the gifts given without something to trigger the associated memories.

 *****UPDATED: 2/3/2016**


	32. The Call 6

**The Call 5.6**

Uncaring of the audience around him, Steve pressed again, "I'm not asking for much, Taylor. Please? One detail. Just one. That's all I'm asking for."

"Virmire isn't very far out of our way Steve," Taylor growled, facing the shuttle door, her back to the cape harassing her. "If you don't drop this subject, we're going there, and Greg won't be the only kabourophobe on the ship."

The cluster of quarians, humans, asari, turian and batarian gathered in the shuttle glanced at each other, their motions completely ignored by the two capes.

"Come on, bros share this stuff," Steve pressed, as the shuttle rumbled slightly. "I'll match you detail for detail; just give me something. Anything!"

"I'll give you something, alright," Taylor grumbled. "Pain. I'm going to hurt you. I'm going to hurt you a lot."

"Okay, you don't want to talk about it, I get that. Not brag worthy, okay that sucks but it happens. Still, this is _Aria_ we're talking about, not some random guy you met in a bar. I mean, two heavy hitting warlords; both with forceful personalities and confident in their own sexuality. I _know_ something happened up there. Garrus said that Aria's guards even moved down the stairs for a bit."

"Nothing happened between me and Aria!" Taylor hissed through gritted teeth.

"Wait, she probably has cameras everywhere! Did you get the recording? No judgments or anything, whatever floats your boat, you know? You don't even have to let me see the good stuff, I'm good with just the lead up. My imagination is more than good enough to fill in the blanks."

Taylor didn't even wait for the door to fully retract before moving through it. While not as bulky as most of the others, Steve still had to wait a second more before he could follow. However, Taylor's lead put her well on her way across the cargo bay, heading toward the elevator by the time he could follow.

"So, is that a no?" He called after her.

Waiting, Steve watched her punch the indicator to summon the elevator which she boarded silently.

"Is there a particular reason you are tempting fate like this, Steve?" Liara asked.

Instead of answering immediately, Steve continued to stare at the elevator. His iron focus never wavered as he activated his omni-tool. "Paige."

" _Yeah, Steve?"_

"Guess what?"

" _What?"_

"Taylor slept with Aria!"

"What? _Are you serious?"_

"I don't know, but something happened in Aria's balcony in Afterlife and Taylor won't give me details," Steve informed her. "Paige, I have to have confirmation. I _need_ confirmation."

" _Where is she?"_ Paige immediately asked.

"Level 3."

" _I'm on it."_

Smirking, Steve closed the channel. If anyone on the crew could get the truth out of Taylor, it was Paige.

"You know, Taylor will seek revenge for this, right?"

Still Smirking, Steve nodded to Liara, "It will be totally worth it."

"Was it not you that informed me how vicious she could be, when properly motivated?"

"Still worth it," Steve mumbled to himself.

Liara grinned at Steve's commitment, "I don't see how riling her up like this will be worth the retribution."

"Are you kidding me?" Steve asked. "This is Taylor we're talking about here. In all the time we've been running together, there was only one time she did something we could nail her for. This thing with Aria? We'll be able to hang this over her head for _years._ "

"We had the same problem with Shepard. Well, until we saw him dance. Or, more accurately, try and pass off the body spasms he used as dancing. It was truly all we had on him. Taylor seems less easy going than Shepard, however. I just hope you are prepared for the extent of her ire. Don't your people have a saying about letting still lizards sleep?"

"Something like that," Steve agreed. "Dragons though, not lizards and I don't have to worry about either of those. Bees maybe. Unless she does make a side trip to Virmire."

"Hmm. Well, it is your neck. You know her better than the rest of us, so you are aware of the expected consequences," Liara conceded. "I will happily visit you in med bay and laugh at your expense."

"Wouldn't expect anything less," Steve replied, satisfied before making his way to the elevator heading for deck 4. With Liara's reminders of possible bees in his future ringing in his ears he figured now would be as good a time as any for a supply run. Especially since they were down a shuttle, and he could probably pick up a transit ride here. Hopefully by the time he got back, Taylor wouldn't hurt him too badly.

Would still be worth it, Steve thought to himself. Especially after all the crap she gave him for trying to recreate the Hot Pocket.

Coming up on the locked door to Greg's lab, Steve activated his omni-tool again. This time bringing up his hacking algorithms. Thankfully the door opened on it's own before he got very far. While his power made him good at things, Greg and Atlas locks were damn near impossible for anyone to crack. Even Taylor struggled with them.

However, one look inside derailed all of Steve's thoughts. "Dude, what the hell?"

"What?"

"Man, you channeling Bonesaw in here or something? Do I need to check the roster to see if anyone's missing? Unless you murdered Perera for his brain to use in a kill bot, in which case, I didn't see shit."

"Huh?"

Steve pointed past his disheveled friend into the room. Hand rubbing the back of his neck, Greg turned around taking a look. There wasn't much rhyme or reason to his lab, never was, but what caught the man's attention must have been the operating table toward the back of the room.

Or, more graphically, the blood that splattered the walls around where it sat and pooled on the floor under it. It wasn't a small amount of blood by any stretch.

"Oh. That," Greg muttered. "Don't worry about that. That's nothing."

"Dude, that's a lot of blood for nothing man. What happened?"

"Not sure, but I think it might have been the Body Part-O-Matic I was trying to build a couple of days ago. You know, cloned organs and limbs are a thing here, and we might need something replaced sooner or later. I was trying to build one for Chakwas. I guess my power didn't like that idea much."

"I thought you gave up on that? Been hella' years since you did anything organic like that. Not since the Multiplayer Incident, when we tried to rob Bay Central."

"That was why I tried. I was hoping my power forgot I did that stuff," Greg shrugged, pushing that specific screw-up out of his mind while trying to divert Steve's attention away from the mess. "Anyways, what's up man? What day is it? Did I miss anything?"

"Taylor slept with Aria!" Steve blurted out.

"Dude, no shit?" Greg asked, his jaw hanging open. After a moment to process it, he smiled. "Alright! Go Taylor. Blue Cougar for the win! Is Aria joining up?"

Steve shook his head, "Naw. At least, I don't think so. She wasn't on the shuttle earlier, but who knows, right? But that wasn't the only reason why I came down here."

"Sup?"

Steve wrapped his arm around his friend's shoulders, "How long has it been since we did a job, old school?"

Looking a bit uncomfortable, Greg shrugged, "Dude, years man, you know that. Not since before we were Earth hopping."

"That, is a crying ass shame," Steve said. "One we're going to fix. Me and you man, we're going to Apien Crest after we stop off somewhere, and grab a new shuttle."

"What's wrong with the _Dragonfly_?"

"Taylor drove it. It's parked in a building somewhere on Omega, missing part of it's hull and a couple of thrusters, I think."

Greg blinked, "I've been out days, haven't I?"

Steve nodded.

"Crap," He muttered. "So what's going on in the Apien Crest that we need to go there?"

"There's a system there," Steve explained. "Well, there's several of them actually, but the one we're heading for has the planet Aephus in it."

"Okay, but I don't get why we have to go to Aephus in costume."

Smiling widely, "Remember the plans Shepard made for SR-3? Specifically the armaments?"

"Hell yeah," Greg said. "Man, Taylor and I spent days modifying them for here, you know that."

Steve didn't let Greg wonder for long, saying, "Aephus is where the turians set up their shipyards, man. Incidentally, it's also where they refit and rearm their fleets. That means, that's where we go to get our hands on a pair of Thanix cannons for the _Normandy_."

"Don't mess with me, man." Greg stated. "You know how long I've been waiting to get my hands on something like that. Taylor would never let me build one, and I haven't been able to find a way to buy one since we got here. It's considered brand new tech that only big government holds. I got the blueprints, but I couldn't get a finished one even through the Shadow Broker's contacts and it would take me months by myself to build one."

"I know. I tried looking for one too. But, me and you, we're going there, and we're gonna steal some. Maybe some other stuff too, depends on what we find when we get there. Best part is, we're going to do it Uber and Leet style. Like we did in the old days."

"What are we running?" Greg asked, getting into the idea.

In answer, Steve just pulled a set of sunglasses from one of his armored pockets, putting them on Greg.

"I love you, man."

"I know," Steve smirked. "How long until you can get us suited and ready?"

"Shit man, give me an hour and we'll be rollin'."

Steve smiled, "Awesome. That gives me time to get us transit tickets under a couple of false ID's. We'll get a shuttle that can do the job, and then we're going to show this galaxy why Brockton Bay cringed when we were on the loose."

All factors considered, this might even beat out Paige stealing the Normandy. It would give him serious bragging rights anyways. Granted, Taylor was going to kill him when he got back, but -hopefully- some shiny new death guns would mitigate some of the blowback. Especially after Greg did his thing, and improved them. Assuming they pulled this off, and they didn't end up getting killed or jailed, of course.

Still smiling as he walked away from Greg, Steve decided; no matter the outcome, this was going to be _epic._

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Greg's smile melted as soon as Steve's back was turned. Sighing, he closed and relocked the door. The mission aside, Steve did remind him he needed to talk to Chakwas. He'd been meaning to do it for a while now, but things just kept coming up. Then there was his power to consider.

Greg told himself it was not to cover his tracks. Not entirely.

Opening the connection on the vid screen hanging from the wall, Greg did exactly that.

"Mr. Richardson," the older woman greeted him. "To what do I owe the pleasure? Are you in need of medical assistance?"

"No ma'am. I was just wondering, how hard would it be for you to grow a new arm for Taylor? You know, if she wanted a biomechanical replacement. You can do that, right?"

With a slight down tug of her lips, Chakwas lowered her datapad to fully face Greg on the monitor, "That would depend on a number of factors. However, that kind of advanced medical technology is not currently available to Med Bay."

"Well, assuming we got what you needed, you know how to do that stuff, right?"

"It's been a few years since I practiced that particular branch of medicine, but I believe so. Removing her current cybernetics might be a bigger issue, as she's had them for a very long time. She would need multiple surgeries and it may place her off the combat roster for some time depending on how they go. "

"Pretty sure Steve can do that, or help you do it, whichever ends up being the better thing to do." Greg mumbled. "I was just thinking though, we might need something like that. Especially considering the kinds of things we're up against. Not everyone's going to be cool with augmentation like Taylor. I noticed people are pretty weird about that here."

"True," Chakwas hedged. "Minor cybernetics are generally common across all species. Gene modifications are also fairly common as is minor non-sapient cloning. Major cybernetics never could truly compete and, of course, modern medical technology has negated all but the most extreme need for it.

"However, cloning of any kind is strictly regulated. Not just by the Alliance, but by all the Council worlds. It is something you can only find in a major medical center. We would be hard pressed to acquire the proper equipment for Ms. Hebert, much less for the various other galactic species that are currently serving aboard Normandy. I understand several quarians and surprisingly a batarian have come aboard today. I doubt we could find the equipment that would be suitable for all species considering the vast differences in biology. Then there are the personal preferences of each individual to consider as well."

"So, it would be handy, but not exactly viable for us?"

Chakwas shook her head, "Not particularly. Aside from how much real estate it would deprive Med Bay, we could better serve our wounded by investing in equipment to repair them. Or to keep them stable in case of major trauma until we could deliver them to a proper hospital. I can tell you from experience however, that should that be a necessity, it generally means that person is looking at months of rehabilitation. I am well versed at keeping soldiers on their feet, but that kind of damage, well, it is a different beast, as they say. I do not know how long Shepard expects our mission to take, but in the Alliance such events would remove that combat specialist from the roster for the duration. Assuming they lived long enough for that to be a concern. Which, sadly, is always something to consider."

"Oh. Okay," Greg said. "I was just wondering. Do you think you could send me some stuff on that? I've been putting some thought in upgrading Mr. Doctor and it might help. Right now, he's more of a patch artist and to be honest, I don't think it would be a good idea to use him on a non-human. Not sure he knows the difference. Pretty safe bet he doesn't considering when I built him."

"I had similar thoughts as well, but you have been unavailable lately to discuss it," Chakwas answered. "I can, of course, send you that information as long as you keep me up to date on your progress. Was there anything else?"

"No ma'am, and I will. Thanks, I'll let you get back to doing your thing."

Turning back to his workstation, he couldn't help but notice Atlas's icon floating next to it. The guy had probably been there the whole time, staring at him.

"Don't look at me like that," Greg muttered, activating his Doomba MK IIIs to clean up the blood. Thankfully the camera was angled so that Chakwas didn't see it. Otherwise, that would have generated far more questions than he was willing to answer. "I said I'll tell them. Just, not right now."

"You should have informed Uber, Leet. I do not agree with not, at least, informing Matriarch." Atlas' synthetic voice reprimanded.

"I'm not going to get anyone's hopes up until I know for sure it worked."

The following silence was just as accusing to Greg as if he'd said something. Made worse by the fact the only noise in his lab came from the little round machines hovering around, zapping the walls. Picking up Taylor's arm, he tried to divert the AI from the previous discussion. "Looks good, better than it used to be. Hows the power output look?"

"Leet…"

"Let it go, Atlas. I said I'd come clean, and I will. Just… give me a couple of weeks to test it out. Make sure there are no side effects."

"It's the not side effects that concern me, Leet."

"I know." Sighing, Greg nodded to that point, "I took precautions; just in case. You have the codes, you know what to do if I spaz or something."

Again, Atlas's silence was just as damning as if he continued to reprimand him. It was the same argument they had when he first got the idea and enlisted his help. Worse, Greg couldn't disagree with him on this point. Right now, everything was up in the air with the only certainty available being that he was still alive, and functional.

By the time Atlas broke the silence in the lab, Greg finished rechecking the adjustments on Taylor's repaired arm, put it in the finished and 'safe tech' section of his lab, and moved on to the Firefly MK V. He figured Taylor would like it better as a shoulder cannon anyways. More options. Especially with the bug boards he installed, though a VI system could easily be adapted for everyone else who wanted the increased firepower. Seriously, who didn't want a shoulder cannon? Especially a tinker shoulder cannon. It wasn't like he couldn't custom build one to suit everyone's tastes.

Especially now.

"I do not like this. You should not have done the procedure."

Putting the upgraded Firefly with Taylor's arm, Greg turned sharply to the AI, "Damn it, Atlas, it had to be me. If it was going to work at all, it was only going to work _once_. I had to do it!"

"Said every mad scientist in every low budget B movie, ever." Atlas smoothly replied. "You are lucky you didn't lobotomize yourself."

Ignoring the AI's snark, Greg pressed his case, "What happened to Taylor proved the theory was sound, even you agreed with my projections when I ran the tests after I took those scans. It wasn't just possible, it was doable."

"I agreed it looked promising, not that you should stab insane tinker technology into your brain."

"It's working," Greg stressed. "I'm not saying it's going to keep working, I'm not even saying this wasn't stupid, but right now, it's working."

"For how long, Leet?"

Atlas's simple question took the wind out of Greg's sails. Sagging against his workbench he smiled sadly, "Hopefully it won't stop. If it does, hopefully I can fix it. Even if I can't, what was I supposed to do, Atlas? What good am I to Taylor, or the team like this? Blacking out all the time, losing days or weeks and spending those days I'm actually _me_ playing catch up only to lose it again? What good is a tinker who can't trust his tech? Especially when they can get better elsewhere!"

Shaking his head, Greg continued when Atlas didn't reply, "If it was just me, I'd deal with it, you know? I've dealt with it since I triggered. But what about Sharee? Or Steve? Or Dinah? Alex hasn't triggered yet but we both know it's only a matter of time. Atlas, what about _Taylor?_ I prove out this tech, and it confirms _everything_. Think about that man, you read Lisa's research. Fuck dude, we helped her compile it! You of all people _know_ what this will mean for us. For all of us. I can duplicate it now. Maybe even do it better. It's not just freedom I'm talking about here. Think of the possibilities with how this will work with the others!"

Atlas stayed quiet; his avatar unmoving while Greg waited to find out if he would betray him.

"I still do not like this."

"I'm telling you, it's working."

"You could just be saying that."

"That's why I said give me a few weeks man. At the least, let me do this run with Steve. Like a test drive. If everything comes back to both of our satisfaction, we tell Taylor. I'm telling you, Atlas, this is going to change _everything_."

"Very well," Atlas grudgingly agreed, making Greg smile widely. "Before you leave however, I want to perform a full examination on you. You will also need a skin graft to conceal your augmentation."

Greg nodded, fingers of his right hand tracing the foreign metal casing at the back of his neck. "You got it man."

"And you will _always_ keep a channel open to me via your visor," Atlas ordered.

"Yeah, of course. Whatever you want, dude." Greg heartedly agreed.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Shepard no sooner stepped out of the elevator when he found himself having to step aside or be run over by the yellow haired bullet rushing him. It bolted past, slipping between Garrus and Lawson like a guided missile. He barely had time to get clear, before Mcabee boarded the recently vacated elevator, repeatedly stabbing the controls.

"Atlas, close this door and get me to Deck 3, now!"

The doors slammed closed immediately.

"What a strange group," he mumbled to himself.

"You mean, that's not common in humans?" Garrus asked. Shepard raised his eyebrow at the humorous glint in the turians eyes.

"Impatience?"

"Insanity."

Laughing, Shepard shook his head.

"Hmm," Garrus rumbled; rubbing his fringe. "Are you sure this isn't how all human ships are run? Granted, I don't have a lot of experience serving on human ships. I guess it could just be the people on ships named Normandy."

"Watch it, Vakarian. Keep in mind, you have no room to judge. You didn't just serve with me, but you came back to do it again."

"True," Garrus grudgingly acknowledged. "However, someone has to be the voice of reason on this flying asylum you're putting together."

Rolling his eyes at the snarky turian, Shepard turned to the Cerberus woman next to him. "Let's leave Mr. Voice of Reason to impart his wisdom to the masses, while we discuss your proposal."

"Of course, Shepard," Lawson returned.

Making his way starboard, Shepard passed through the door. The room inside consisted of a simple long table with several chairs. A large vidscreen dominated the forward section. Taking a seat, he put the data pads he was carrying down, giving the woman following him his full attention.

Lawson was frowning, still standing, as she looked around the room. "There was supposed to be a lab in here."

"Labs are on Deck 4 now," Shepard answered.

"Deck 4 was slated for storage and Engineering."

"I'm sure they were," Shepard replied. "Engineering encompasses Deck 4 and 5. Storage on Deck 5, on either side of Engineering."

Lawson sighed, "Hebert."

"Hebert," Shepard agreed. "So, what did you want to talk about, Lawson?"

"You," she answered. Taking a seat across from him, Lawson folded her hands, piercing Shepard with her focused gaze. "You are aware I was the project lead for the Lazarus Cell?"

Shepard leaned into his chair, nodding, "Hebert mentioned it, and I read through the files."

"Then you know I dedicated over two years of my life to bringing you back. A significant investment. Not just for me, but also for Jacob, who has been with us from the start. More importantly, it was a significant investment for Cerberus, as well. Billions went into your resurrection."

"I'm aware."

"Taking that into consideration, you should consider the Illusive Man's offer. Cerberus brought you back. We built this ship for you, but that is not all Cerberus is capable of. Regardless of what Hebert thinks, the Illusive Man has a plan for dealing with the Reapers. Cutting him out of the operation will only be detrimental to our chances of winning. You at least owe it to us to talk to him."

Shepard refrained from commenting with his first impulse. Instead, he slowly nodded, "I agree. However, that does not mean I am willing to work for Cerberus."

Lawson frowned as he continued, "That said, that does not mean I am unwilling to work _with_ you. Provisional on certain conditions. I have very good reason to distrust Cerberus; I've seen first hand what your Illusive Man considered to be 'sound investments'. I'm sure those I came across were only the tip of iceberg and there are many others, probably even more horrifying than what I witnessed, out there that are still unknown to anyone but your boss."

"I will admit that there have been cells that have crossed lines in the past," Lawson carefully stated. "However, that has more to do with the decisions of the Project Leads, than any direction of the Illusive Man. My own cell would be an example of what a Cerberus cell can do, when properly governed."

"That is still debatable," Shepard mumbled to himself.

"Pardon?"

"Never mind," Shepard evaded. "Was there anything else, other than getting me to talk to The Illusive Man?"

"Just that I would like to be present, at least long enough for me to check in," Lawson answered. "Jacob and I have been unaccounted for some time, and by now I'm sure he knows I appropriated the cell he stationed on Omega."

"That will be fine," Shepard agreed. "I'll let you know when the QEC he set up here is back online."

"Why…never mind," Lawson growled. "Do you know how long that will be?"

"Couple of days, based on the last update I received," Shepard answered. "If it makes you feel any better, Baker wasn't any happier about it than you are. Apparently, there's some friction between him and the guy Hebert put in charge of running that refit. Perera, if I remember right."

"Would you have a problem if I assisted?"

"Not at all. There are several projects going on that would benefit from having someone of your expertise, if you are amendable. The same goes for Jacob Taylor. If he doesn't mind getting dirty, there's plenty of projects to work on."

Lawson sharply nodded, "Very well, then I will let him know before I find Ensign Perera."

Still leaning back in his chair, Shepard watched the stern woman leave. Organizing his observations of this, and the other interactions he had with her and her lieutenant. So far, he had to say he was impressed, though concerned. It would have been much easier to deal with her, if she was some insane megalomaniac, bent on purifying the galaxy of non-human life.

That however, wasn't the case. She was driven, focused, and dedicated, no question. That she worked for an organization like Cerberus and believed in it, put said organization in a different light. Something that wasn't sitting well with Shepard. He'd noticed a similar reaction to the various ex-Cerberus crew members Hebert had conscripted. Few, if any, of them fit the stereotype and that was bothering him. Then again, he read most of their dossiers, and knew Hebert put a great deal of thought and research into each one she allowed to stay on ship.

But what did that say about what Shepard knew of Cerberus? Was it as Lawson said, that certain Project Leads were responsible for the experiments he shut down? Even if that was true, that didn't gainsay the Hades Cell he hunted, while he was searching for Saren. There was no way the assassination of an Alliance Admiral was the sole fault of a single Project Lead. Not when it was to cover up a second cell's misdeeds, when they tortured poor Toombs squad by injecting them with Thresher Maw venom, just to see what effect it would have.

 _Things were so much simpler when all I had to do was kill people_ , Shepard groused internally.

Still, if serving with Garrus, Tali, and Wrex taught him anything, it was you couldn't judge an individual by their species, or the organization they worked for. Good people ended up in the most unlikeliest of professions and places. Often times, for the strangest of reasons that made sense only to them.

That didn't mean he shouldn't prepare accordingly. Just in case. He'd been wrong before.

"I don't suppose I need to ask that one of you keeps an eye on them?" Shepard asked the empty room. Three icons appeared over the table he was sitting at.

"No, Commander," EDI replied.

"Even with other tasks given to us, we are always ready to serve, Shadow Broker."

Shepard turned to the last synthetic icon in front of him, the one that reported to Hebert. It's voice print sent a chill up his spine when it answered; "We are always watching."

"Great," Shepard mumbled to himself, after all three vanished. "Why doesn't that make me feel any better?"

The aft door opening assaulted the quiet room with the sounds of construction mingled with several voices of those doing the work. Thankfully, Liara passed through it quickly allowing the room to return to it's pristine quiet.

"Shepard," Liara greeted while taking a seat at the table.

"Liara. Problems?"

"No, but on returning I found several updates that I thought you would be interested in."

Thankful for the chance to put his earlier nebulous thoughts aside, Shepard took the offered data pad starting to scan the contents. "Collector, ship, or roster updates?"

"Roster. Specifically for the list I was given by Taylor," Liara confirmed. "Negotiations with the Purgatory's Warden for Jack are almost complete. It took some convincing but I was able to get him to agree to release her. Currently I'm trying to talk down his price, but we may end up having to cover the full cost to acquire her."

"Is she really worth this much effort?" Shepard asked frowning. "Especially considering the personality profile in her dossier."

Liara's expression soured obviously having similar reservations, "Taylor thinks so and according to my sources, Cerberus has figured out she's imprisoned in Purgatory and has been trying to buy her release themselves. They have offered substantial amounts, which has driven the price up. Part of why things have been difficult with the Warden. As for how valuable she would be to the team, I am unsure, but Taylor believes Jack to be a powerful biotic. What she lacks in discipline, she holds in sheer biotic potential. Taylor mentioned that your alternate recruited her prior."

Shepard sighed, setting that aside for the moment. "Alright, what else?"

"Zaeed Massani. I sent a contract to him but have not received a firm response yet other than he is currently engaged in a contract and would get back to me."

"I know of Massani," Shepard commented. "Mostly by reputation but I actually fought him once. Good soldier. Cunning and ruthless as hell, but a good soldier even if he is a mercenary."

"You did? Maybe I should withdraw the offer."

"No," Shepard disagreed. "I'm sure we'll get along fine. It wasn't that big of a deal. He just happened to be working with a mercenary band I was tracking down during my anti piracy days. It really wasn't much of a fight. We shot each other. He spaced me and I blew the ship he was on. Lucky for both of us by the end of it we were more concerned with calling it a day and we never crossed paths again."

Chuckling at Shepard's pragmatism, Liara shook her head before moving on, "Justicar Samara has not replied to my messages at all, nor has Thane Krios. Samara will be exceptionally difficult to track. Traditionally Justicars never venture from Asari space, but my sources on Thessia tell me she hasn't been seen there in some time and believe she might have left. Possibly Illium, or another asari world.

"Sadly, I am having similar difficulties with Thane. My sources in the Illuminated Primacy on Kahje have told me that Thane is no longer a member of their special forces. Retired months ago for health reasons, however they wouldn't divulge what that was. My contact did say he would pass on information should he resurface."

Shepard nodded to the information while absorbing the points Liara didn't elaborate but were listed on the data pad. "Assuming we could find a way to work with Samara without her killing half our crew, she would be a good addition. I don't know much about Justicars, just the rumors and speculation that is common on the extranet, but don't they live by a ridge personal code? Seems like that is going to be an issue considering most of the backgrounds of the team."

"True, but I'm looking into it," Liara said. "Again Taylor seems to think there is a way but we might not know how until we find and talk to her."

"Not sure what good an assassin is going to do for us," Shepard mumbled, scanning the aforementioned Thane's dossier. "Not against the Collectors."

"His reputation on Kahje is outstanding, Shepard. Zeranidis spoke very highly of him saying that during his tour with them he became the standard for which all the others strove to emulate. Considering the numerical advantage the Collectors have on us, we are going to need every skilled warrior we can acquire."

"So, that leaves just those three left to find and they're all dead ends for now." He said, letting the subject drop while picking up the next data pad. "I was thinking we should head to Tuchanka to see Wrex. Not sure what the old man is doing now a days, but if you want something dead, nothing kills things dead like a centuries long lived species that nuked themselves into oblivion, and then kept fighting.

"Besides, Hebert mentioned he helped her get started when she arrived. I figure he might want to know his investment paid off. Hopefully before he decides to send debt collectors after Hebert. Wrex isn't very forgiving of things like that."

"True enough," Liara chuckled. "As much as I would love to see Wrex again, would it be inconvenient if you dropped me off on Illium? One of my contacts there messaged me that he had vital intelligence for us that was too sensitive to transmit openly."

"Sure. It's not like we have anything else to do right now other than prep. Not until the Collectors show up again," Shepard groused.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Turning away from the stove, Sharee smiled apologetically to the man across the mess island from her, "I'm sorry it's taking so long. Gardner shouldn't be much longer. He said Kenneth and Gabrielle were helping him repair the water line now."

"Nonsense," the orange skin salarian said, eyes never leaving the four data pads in front of him. "Proper nutrient preparation is a vital task aboard a ship. Never learned how, myself, sadly. No time, too much to do, much to learn. Tried once, did not end well. Prefer culture analysis. More science; less death threats."

"Sounds like what happens whenever Paige tries to cook something," Sharee said, opening the oven to check on the rolls. "Is the information on those data pads helpful, Dr. Solus? I know it's not much, but we've only had the one encounter with them so far."

"No no no no no, fascinating. Must see the sensor suites used. Curious mix, don't see these types in normal combat armor. STG maybe. Reminiscent of old League of One. Predecessors of Salarian STG, you know. Brilliant intelligence gatherers. Well, not too intelligent, since they allowed themselves to be killed. Still, for the time, excellent. Nice to see mercenaries taking an interest in topics other than killing. Well, mission is to kill Collectors and stop Reapers, which means killing them, but pleasant to see the interest anyway.

"These dark energy readings are especially fascinating. Can't wait to analyse them. Fabricate cultures, test hypnosis, construct means to counter swarm toxins, counter self destruct mechanism. Of course, find ways to kill them easier too, I suppose. Program and update tech attacks, possibly upgrade armaments, ammunition, explosives are always useful. Hmm, yes yes yes yes.

"Going to need a lab."

"Lab?" Sharee blinked several times, trying to process the rapid fire, and slightly confusing way Dr. Solus spoke. "Oh, oh right. Yeah, we have one for you. It's going to be starboard side, Deck 4. I think that's right. Starboard is the right side of a ship if you're facing forward, right?"

"Yes."

"Starboard, then," Sharee smiled. Stirring the stew to keep it from burning, she continued, "Opposite side from Greg, Steve, and Taylor's workshop. Probably safer that way, but I'm sure if you needed something, they'd share if you asked."

"Multiple laboratories? Ship possesses full manufacturing capabilities for small arms, armor, mods, as well as vehicle refit and repair. Noticed when I arrived. Thought it strange for a warship. Also prioritizes science stations, sensor suites, stealth, and has onboard AI, in addition to massive data storage, and cutting edge communications capabilities. Quarian engineering team, and efficient combat specialists of multiple species. Unorthodox mixture. Possibly volatile. Also, a lot of construction still ongoing."

"The Reapers are a threat to everyone," the thinker stated surely. "We knew that before, well before we got involved. We've been planning to do this for a long time, you know. We're here to win. Whatever it takes to do that, that is what we are going to do."

Giving the pot one last stir, Sharee turned to face the alien. "Right now, this ship is all that stands in the way of the Reapers hitting the galaxy unopposed. We might not seem like much right now, and I get that you have no idea what some of us can bring to the table. But trust me when I say, what we have is going to make a difference. We have Shepard and Taylor and with your help, and everyone else here, we're going to be enough to kick this thing off."

"Yeah, this won't be enough later, unless we can stop the Reapers in dark space from waking up, but everything we learn today, is something the other races can use later, when they accept the truth in case we can't. From what Shepard found out two years ago, and what Taylor knows, that is something the Reapers never had to deal with before. A united galaxy. Everything we discover is going to help us do that. It's why we've set things up like this on the ship. It's why we're trying to recruit the people we're after."

Mordin's wide mouth quirked in what Sharee figured must have been a smile. "Shepard offered me a challenge. Glad to see he was not mistaken. Proving Reapers exist will be difficult. Not good for politicians who wish to keep positions. Killing them might help. Reapers, that is, not politicians. Though that might help too. Either would be difficult. Defeating Collectors much easier, by comparison. Will make a wonderful addition to biography. Assuming we survive long enough for achievements to be noted, of course."

"Drop it, Paige!"

Throughout the mess hall, every conversation died as heads turned to Taylor. Her shortened hair still dripping wet as she stormed passed and toward their shared quarters obviously fresh from an interrupted shower. The blond master cape right on her heels, a predatory look in her eyes.

"Don't be so selfish, Taylor," Paige countered. "Do you know how long it's been since anything touched my nethers that wasn't plastic? I need this! Besides, what if I find a nice asari to hook up with? I won't know what's culturally acceptable and it's not like you can trust the internet to give it you straight!"

Taylor spun around to face the nagging cape trailing her, "I didn't sleep with Aria!"

Sharee's eyes widened at the absolute dead silence Taylor's statement generated. Taylor and Paige continued to stare at each other. Paige smiling widely, Taylor's face blanking.

"The mess hall is full of people, isn't it?" She asked rhetorically.

If anything, Paige's smile widened.

The standoff ended up being broken by Joker over the public com, " _Ah not interrupting anything, am I?"_

"What is it, Joker?" Taylor asked evenly. Sharee felt a shiver race down her spine at the tone. It was one she heard Taylor use before, and that was never good.

" _You got a message from Omega. Kinda weird, no sender address. Actually just two words; 'call me!'"_

Taylor blinked, once, before turning around calling out, "Urz!"

Everyone watched as the old varren quickly made his way to his master. Thankfully, Sharee noticed, cleaned up and free of the carnage he participated in on Omega.

"Urz; stay," Taylor commanded while pointing at the door to their quarters before looking pointedly at Paige. "And eat anyone who tries to open this door."

Urz immediately sat next to the door, puffing out his massive chest as Taylor stormed past him into the room.

Nervous looks adorned most of the crew. Except for Paige. If her smile was blinding before, that was nothing compared to her beaming grin when Steve's voice broke the stunned silence from her's omni-tool.

" _So… worth it…"_


	33. The Call 7

**The Call 5.7**

Finally reaching the top, I blew the breath I was holding. Crawling through ducts barely big enough for me to wiggle through was hard enough, but doing so one armed, was definitely a challenge. Fortunately, not a challenge that I couldn't meet, but one that easily substituted for my normal daily workout. The fact that this wasn't even where I originally meant to go, was entirely irrelevant, and not a thought I allowed to brew longer than it took to push it aside.

Balancing on the rung my feet were planted on, and the wall at my back, I opened the hatch sticking my head out to see if the coast was clear.

It wasn't.

Chakwas sat at her desk, chair turned turned toward me. Face expressionless, aside from one, slow blink.

I smiled, as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with me coming into med bay this way. "Hi."

"Operative Hebert," the stern woman returned.

"Don't suppose I could get you to opaque the window and lock the door for me?" I asked.

Chakwas raised an eyebrow.

"Please?"

"And I suppose there is a perfectly normal and rational explanation for that, and your entrance?"

"Of course," I replied.

After several moments of silence, Chakwas prompted, "And that would be…?"

"Paige is staking out the mess hall, waiting for me to come out of our room," I answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'd rather she didn't figure out I escaped, and I'm not going anywhere people can find me until I get my arm back."

My mumbled, 'and a gun,' was thankfully ignored.

"Ah," The older woman nodded along. "Of course. Perfectly reasonable."

My answering smile earned me an eyeroll from the older woman. Though she did opaque the windows, and once the door icon flared red, I started pulling myself up. "Thanks. How's Dinah?"

"Ms. Alcott is doing well, as far as I can tell," she said. "I have never treated a condition like hers before. Thinker Headaches are not a common aliment."

Finally having extracted myself from the hatch, I nodded to her point. "Yeah. Honestly, if it wasn't for Lisa, we wouldn't even know how to help her. She got them fairly often."

Chakwas frowned, "I don't believe I have been acquainted with her yet."

"And you won't, she didn't come with us," I explained, setting myself next to where Dinah rested. "Stayed behind."

"Hmm," Chakwas hummed before speaking. "Well, I looked through the medical files provided by Mr. Baker. Very thorough, despite his lack of official training. I still cannot say I understand everything about your people, but you would think there would have been more information. Or was this an uncommon ailment even on your world?"

I smiled to myself at her choice in words. I could see where it would be easier for her to just treat us as a completely different species than to think of us as dimensional travelers. Then again, in some ways, she wasn't wrong. "I honestly don't know. Sharee doesn't get them at all and Steve only does if he holds a skill too long, but it takes awhile before they get this bad. I'm not even a thinker, but I used to get them when I tried to use my bugs' senses. Doesn't translate well to a human mind, you know? Anyway, what I do know is that where we're from, sharing a weakness, any weakness, is just asking for someone to kill you, so it wasn't very surprising there wasn't much available for researching it."

"I see. Well, I will do my best to adapt modern practices to help alleviate her condition. Hopefully, we will find a good treatment that will not involve such high concentrations of pain relievers. A fine stop gap, but not the best for the long term."

I nodded, brushing Dinah's hair away from her face, "That would be nice."

"You two must be very close." Even with my focus on Dinah, I could see the small smile on Chakwas face.

"Dinah's a good kid, probably the best of all of us, considering how bad things were when she got her powers. She's probably the only reason I'm even here right now."

"Oh?" Chakwas asked. "While I am not one for rumors and such, the scuttlebutt on any ship, much less one like the _Normandy_ , is rather hard to ignore. Especially when one's office is next to the mess. I was under the impression that it was the other way around."

"Yeah, that would be the story that gets talked about," I replied. "The guys never really talked about the stuff we used to do, before we came here, but the time I'm talking about would never have come up. It was... a very bad time. For me. Personally."

"Perhaps you should talk to Ms. Chambers then. She is very educated in this field and quite easy to talk too."

"She's ex-Cerberus, and I'm not yet convinced she's fully on our side," I countered, before chuckling humorlessly. "Besides, I have trust issues. Big ones."

"Ms. Rockford then," Chakwas suggested. "She studied psychology on your world, if I am not mistaken. She also has the benefit of being within your circle."

"She already knows, and tried," I disagreed. "But the kind of things I was dealing with, there wasn't much she could do. I doubt anyone other than Dinah had a chance..."

The older woman stayed silent, as my voice trailed off, still looking at Dinah. Remaining that way until I started talking again.

"She wasn't supposed to be there, much less know about what happened, but news gets around. Especially if it involves notorious capes, so I guess it isn't that surprising. The reporters who covered the aftermath called it the Massacre of Montreal, and that's the kind of thing that gets headlines. Doubly so, when considering Nikos' hype." At Chakwas confused look, I shrugged.

"Doesn't matter. He was a well known villain on my world. Survived so many attempts on his life that it was half his rep." I chuckled darkly, remembering the look on his face when I attacked his compound, his fear when he realized he couldn't stop me. That _nothing_ was going to stop me. The screams of hundreds of his thralls before I cornered him in that barn. Then, the screams were his own. "But, he didn't survive me. No one there did."

Still half lost in the past firefight, I didn't notice at first Chakwas pale, or her raised eyebrows. "The guys had been looking for me since I disappeared but it was actually Dragon who found me first. Good thing too, I couldn't harm her suits. I know, I tried. She told them where I was, and what was going on. By the time she was able to contain me, the others had arrived. She did damage control, and covered for us, while they took me somewhere isolated to try and undo what Nikos did to me. Didn't work, in the end they decided to try and help me move past it. To adapt to what was done, try and move on."

Chakwas remained silent, just watching me, as I struggled with the memories washing through me. I couldn't tell if it was because she didn't know what to say, or if she was just afraid of saying the wrong thing. Either way, med bay was quiet for several moments while I gathered my thoughts.

"I spent as much time trying to escape, as I did trying to kill myself. I barely remember any of it, things just kind of blended into each other after I was captured. The things I could remember… I couldn't, didn't want to live with. Things I'd done, what happened to me, the horrible things I wanted to do. Never figured out how Dinah did it, and knowing her it could have been anything from blackmail of embarrassing things she had on them, to posting photoshopped pics that never happened. Either way she eventually forced the guys to pick her up and bring her to me."

Smiling a different smile than the one I'd worn a moment ago, I turned back to Dinah. "No matter what I said, she just kept smiling at me, telling me I would get through it. That I'd be okay. Someday, she said, I'd get better. Kept giving me predictions for the crazy things I was saying, trying to shake me out of it. The thing I remember the most though, is her smiling at me. Holding my hand, telling me I would get better, that someday, things would be okay again. I just needed to find a way to go forward until then. Eventually, I actually started to believe her."

Chakwas turned, and I didn't have to see the bottle of brandy on the shelf to understand what she was thinking. I could practically hear the question in her mind without the cues that gave it away. "I'm not sure I'm qualified to help you with this."

I snorted. "No one is 'qualified' to help capes deal with cape stuff. Especially considering some of the powers that were around when I was active."

"Maybe," she chuckled humorlessly. "You have always struck me as a very private person. I'm just not sure why you chose to share this with me."

 _What the hell was I doing?_ I just crawled out of a ventilation duct and now I'm talking about this crap? I suddenly felt embarrassed, and more than aware that I had just dumped on her. "Sorry, I'll stop…"

"No," Chakwas kindly interrupted me. "It's just that while I am a fair surgeon, I am not a psychologist. The trauma you have endured, it is beyond my abilities to heal."

"There are some injuries that can't be healed. By anyone," I muttered, shaking my head. Chakwas was a fair surgeon the way Shepard was a fair soldier, but I didn't argue. Part of what made her so good, was the fact she admitted freely she didn't know everything. It wasn't hard to understand why Shepard preferred her as Chief Medical Officer on the Normandy.

"But you managed to," Chakwas stated. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be here now."

"Sort of. Took months, but eventually I found a balance, a way to cope. The first thing I tried didn't work, but it lead me to the project that did."

"The first thing?"

My eyes stared at the doors to the AI core, but my mind was elsewhere, elsewhen. Those first confusing days, before Dinah had to go home trying to find something to keep me going. People walking on eggshells around me. Steve, eyes bloodshot surrounded by dark circles, frustrated and hurting trying to help. His bad joke that spawned the first idea that I could latch onto, and hold.

How long did it take to plan? Even now, I wasn't sure. Days blending together, searching, plotting until I found him. Nothing really clear, until my boots touched the tar roof, seven hundred and sixty eight meters from my objective.

Even now, I could still smell the acrid heat from my perch, even long after the sun had fallen over the horizon. The city sleeping, still. Pitch dark except for the harsh electric glare of streetlights far below me or through the occasional window of the buildings around. It was as if I was the only person awake in the whole city, helping the moon stand sentry over the world.

But I wasn't, and that was fine. Prefered it this way actually. Through the highly magnified vision offered by my visor, I could see the huge window of a room that had become Armsmaster's prison cell, after Legend confronted him with my accusations. Like me, he was awake. Apparently, making inroads on early breakfast. Eggs, hash browns, and toast.

Must be nice. I bet most prisoners didn't get catered service like that, much less a comfortable condo to live and work in.

Lisa called it long before. He was too valuable, too needed to cage. They needed his power to build and maintain tinkertech for them. However, he wasn't worth the bad PR if anyone ever found out he not only broke an Endbringer Truce, but killed one cape, and tried to kill another during said fight. Much less that _I_ was the one he tried but failed to kill. So here he was now. Building and fixing tinker gear as penance.

I reached upward, my left hand pulling the thin chain that hung around my neck from until the two small bits of metal came free. I ran my thumb across the lettering, nerve simulators allowing me to feel each indentation in the surface.

One of the first things he crafted after the trade with Uber and Leet, a copy of his old dog tags. I smiled remembering when he told me how he felt naked without them. Back then, I thought it was something like how dad continued to wear his wedding ring even after mom died. Old habits.

I knew better now.

"I wish I was religious, or had that kind of belief. Just, something to look at, and know that there is a reason for all the stuff happening. Well, aside from the obvious explanation that Earth Bet is actually Hell. At least you managed to get out. I feel so selfish wishing you were still here to share this misery with me."

I swallowed dryly, biting back the feeling of loss that, even now, was still raw within me. Not far away, I could practically feel Steve's eyes on me. He said nothing, which I appreciated more than I could say. Just stood there. Firm in his stance, resolute in his support.

Unlike in times past, I wasn't wearing my helmet today, nor my hood. This wasn't a cape matter. This was personal. The slight breeze picked up, just enough to dislodge some of my hair, partially obscuring my sight. I ignored it, looking to the east, seeing the very first signs of the new day beginning to appear. Just a softening of the night sky, like seeing a light at the end of a tunnel that was still far too long to properly estimate. Eyes still glued to distant skyline, I smiled softly before my thoughts returned to the depressing venue of a moment ago.

Somehow, it wasn't the same thinking the words. Saying them out loud, while it might have cast aspirations on my sanity -well, more like confirming my lack- it seemed to make me feel better. Almost as if Sebastian was standing beside me, listening.

"Remember back when we first met?" I asked Sebastian's shade feeling that familiar sensation of metal rubbing metal as I clenched my fist around the tags. "That ride up to Captain's Hill? I was so mad at you, but at the same time it was such a thrill. But the thing I remember the most about that night, was sitting on that overlook with you. You just told me about what happened to you on Mindoir, and I was thinking how horrible it was, yet how it explained so much about you. I remember wondering to myself, how much pain could a person take before they started to just going through the motions. Desensitized to the point that caring took effort. It was a question that haunted me for a long time but it wasn't something I could say I really understood.

"Until now."

Looking away from the skyline, I turned my attention downward taking in the slight damage to my armored hand. The reinforcements over my knuckles were cracked from wear, not that I was ever really as careful as I used to be with that arm. My artificial limb could take a lot more punishment than my real one ever could. The blood that stained the dark finish wasn't really there according to Uber, but I could see it.

"Part of me wishes you were here to hate me for what happened. Dinah kept telling me you wouldn't have but I can't help but wonder. I'm trying so hard to put things behind me but…"

Sighing, I turned my eyes back to the vista before me. The sun continued its slow, yet unstoppable advance, as I took in the building across from me again. The twilight hour was long past now. The sun, firmly staking its claim on the world around me, had yet to make its grand appearance. Fitting, to me anyway, that this would be the moment of reckoning. While I always enjoyed the twilight hours before dawn, sunrise still held a deeper place within me. No matter the circumstances, sunrise was just for Sebastian and I. That was our time, when nothing else mattered. No school, no cape stuff, no bullshit. Just the two of us, waiting to welcome the sun, and enjoying the unique display of its arrival. I couldn't think of a better time to do what I came here to do.

"...I can't keep pretending he didn't kill you. It won't bring you back, but maybe, maybe this will give us both some peace."

I didn't need a scope to do this, not with my power. Uncompacting Sebastian's Black Widow from my back, I took a knee. A single fly moved to the glass while the wasp sitting on the barrel of my rifle, stayed unnaturally still. After adjusting it's position until it was centered on the back of Armsmaster's head, I took a deep, slow breath disengaging the safety.

At this range it didn't take much for the feeling of alignment to get messed up, but it only took me seconds to get it perfect. I watched through my visor as he raised the glass of what looked like orange juice to his mouth as the sun finally broke over the horizon.

My metallic finger shook on the trigger, as I willed myself to squeeze. Shaking off it off, I tried again, pouring so much effort into pulling the trigger the entire rifle stated shaking with my inability.

For just a moment, I wondered if Steve or Greg sabotaged my arm, before I dismissed it. They wouldn't do that, they knew what this meant to me. They knew I needed this. I tried again, and again, I couldn't bring myself to apply the three pounds of pressure it would take.

 _There is a difference between being the monster people need, and just being a monster._

I shut my eyes tight, _Don't take this from me, Sebastian. He killed you!_

 _Soldiers die in war. No matter the colors they wear. It has always been that way, and nothing is ever going to change it._

I couldn't argue with the phantom's words. More true than the dawn breaking before me, and just as inevitable. I could practically see Sebastian's shade beside me. See the disappointment in his gaze at what I was trying to do.

My body shook. I couldn't take it anymore. I threw back my head and screamed.

All my frustration, all my anger, hurt, pain, and longing. I poured everything into it, and for the first time since Montreal, let out the darkness inside me. More feeling, than hearing it roll through every bug my power touched.

Breathing harshly, I climbed to my feet, staring ahead. Body shaking uncontrollably, as I watched two PRT goons try and drag Armsmaster from the window, and out of the room. He pushed them away, maybe shouted something, before he turned back to the window. Standing right in front of it, bold as the new day.

I raised the rifle again, taking aim. The goons tried to move him, as my finger tightened on the trigger, but once again Armsmaster pushed them away. This time, hard enough to send one guy falling on his backside.

When he returned to looking out the window, he looked right at me. As if he knew exactly where I was. We stared at each other. Me over the top of the Black Widow, Armsmaster in his morning clothes through the window. Then his bearded mouth moved.

 _I understand._

He did know. Knew not only that _I_ was here, but why. I could see it in his eyes.

He knew I was here to kill him, and he was going to let me. I didn't need Sebastian's training to see it, now that he was facing me. His expression wasn't just of understanding, but acceptance. It might as well have been written on the glass in front of him.

 _If this will help you heal, then do what you need to do._

Tears fell down my cheeks, as I lowered the rifle again. Drained of every emotion, leaving only the weariness that comes after a long battle. This wasn't the man I came here to kill. This wasn't the man that killed Sebastian. That man was already gone, leaving this one haunted by his memories.

I turned away, slowly trudging my way back to the Trident. Feeling more empty than I had in a long time, and not knowing what to do about it.

"Ms. Hebert? Taylor?"

I jumped in my seat, looking around wildly. Chakwas' knowing eyes on me the entire time.

"Are you well?"

I nodded jerkily, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

I wasn't, and we both knew that. Ignoring her concerned eyes, I couldn't help but wonder why this stuff kept coming up. I buried all that stuff was years ago. Moved on, got over it. Hadn't let myself think about any of that in years, but in the last week, it seemed like the only thing I could think about.

 _Maybe I_ should _talk to Sharee again._

I licked my suddenly dry lips, before plastering a weak smile on my face, as I turned to the ship's doctor, "I'll be alright. Sorry to dump all this on you."

"It's alright, but I think you really should talk to someone about these events. I've seen my share of soldiers suffer from similar stress in the past, and nothing good comes from bottling it inside you."

I nodded to her point, making my way back to the hatch and ducts, "I'll talk to Sharee."

At the stern woman's raised eyebrow I couldn't help roll my eyes, "I promise. I'll go find her right now, alright?"

"Hmm. My look was more that you are going to leave by the same method you arrived," Chakwas dryly clarified.

"Look, I might be insane," I returned lowering myself down the ladder. "But only an idiot would go out there with Paige on the prowl. Besides, Sharee's in engineering, just one floor down. I'll find her a lot quicker this way than I would going out the door."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Chakwas shook her head at the odd woman closing the maintenance hatch. "Far too young to carry such burdens."

Soldiers she understood. And not just because she'd been around them for more years than she was willing to admit to while serving with the Alliance either. There had always been something noble about a career soldier. That willingness to give of themselves, no matter the price, in protection of those whom they defended. A rare quality that transcends such limitations like species, race, or origin. It was one of the reasons she became a doctor, to work with such people. To give something back, even if sometimes there was little she could do.

And there was no doubts in Chakwas mind, that Taylor Hebert, was a soldier. It didn't matter she didn't understand the strange woman's world, Chakwas understood enough to know this fact. She fought for her city, for her people, and against odds that boggled the mind. She did it for the same reasons soldiers served in the Alliance. To protect them from the things that they could not protect themselves from. Often times taking hits a lesser human couldn't, because she could.

Even when those things broke her, she still fought holding to values that most men would have abandoned long before that point.

"Remarkable," Chakwas mumbled to herself turning to her sole patient. While she couldn't help Hebert, she hoped she could help Alcott. At least this was something in her field of expertise.

Looking over the readouts, she again assessed the content. There was something familiar about the symptoms. Looking over what the scanners showed, Alcott was suffering, but there was no cause. No physical injuries, nothing to indicate why she was paralyzed with pain. Whatever was tickling her mind about it stayed just out of reach as if there was something missing from the picture. As if…

Chakwas smiled. "Why not? How did Baker put it so colorfully… ah yes. I remember now. Parahuman powers gave the finger to physics."

Chuckling to herself she pulled up an old file, one not used since the days when she last served aboard a different ship named Normandy. Overlaying it over Alcott's readout, Chakwas examined the results.

It didn't match up, but it was close. Close enough to make her smile and quiet that niggling feeling she'd had since she'd been started diagnosing the young womans aliment.

 _While the old L2 implant was to blame, most biotics run into similar issues even with the L3's if they overuse their biotics. While not the same issue, I think that treatment will do quite a well for a start. It worked for Alanko quite well. Just need to make a few adjustments for the patents physique._

"Taylor," Alcott moaned.

Chakwas frowned at the monitor. _And not a moment too soon. It is far too early to give her another dose to be safe. Hopefully, this will help her._

The patient's hands intercepted her before she could administer the treatment.

"No, have to… Taylor can't… Seventy three point..."

Chakwas smiled to herself as Alcott's vitals began returning to normal. The young woman herself no longer mumbling but asleep once again. She patted her hand, "Don't worry dear, we'll see you back on your feet soon."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

 _Just a little bit further,_ I told myself. Just a few more feet and I'd at the hatch under engineering. What Sharee was doing way don't here, I couldn't even guess but she was. Was she was hiding stuff from Steve again?

Voices broke through my musing as I finally arrived but I was more concerned with the fact there wasn't an easy way down considering my handicap. _I knew I should have taken that other junction._ When I got my hands on Steve, he was in for it. Bad enough the asshole set Paige on me, but then he went and had Atlas stash all my bugs.

"...here. What do you think?"

"Are you sure Shepard is okay with this?" I heard Tali ask. "Adams would never have let me do something like this on the old Normandy."

Angling my head to see through the vent, I found Cessi, Lai, and a quarian guy with Tali. Cessi answered Tali's question. "Captain Hebert said it was."

Lia nodded agreeing with Cessi, "Besides, during the few days before they had to leave us on the ship, she let us. She was completely fine with it then and she even left the bunks we put down here. It wouldn't take much to add two wall bunks. With a partition, it would be just like singles quarters on the Shellen."

"Oh, good idea," Cessi gushed. "I wonder if we could get Sharee to let us order something. Do you know what port we're going to next?"

"No, but we don't need to. I traded for one on the Shellen from Nireal before I left."

"Really? He makes the best."

"Expensive too, but so worth it. Our neighbors had one from him. It was gorgeous."

Tali chuckled at the pair, "I think we should make sure Shepard is okay with it first, but if he is then this is more than fine. I'll probably spend most of my time in Engineering anyways and it would be nice to not have to hot bunk. While I'm almost never on the Neema, I have gotten used to having my own assigned space. Though, I think it's going to take some time getting used to the quiet again."

The others nodded in understanding, especially over the her last point.

"Are you sure you three are, um, comfortable, with me here?" the guy asked.

"Why wouldn't we be, Gren?" Cessi asked.

"Because I've been exiled from our people?" He returned looking exasperated.

"You are crew of the Normandy now," Cessi stated firmly, almost echoing similar words I said to her once. "It might not be the Fleet, but Captain Hebert is really nice and when she says you are on her crew, that means almost the same thing as it means on the Flotilla. She might be human, but she _understands_."

Shaking his head, Gren sighed, "If people back on the flotilla, our people, found out you were associating with me, my stigma would be yours to bear as well."

I watched the three quarian woman nod almost in tandem but it was Lia who answered. "The Fleet thinks you died, Gren. Even if they thought you were alive, you are not a bad person like the others who were exiled. Besides, they won't know anything if we don't tell them."

"I won't," Cessi added.

Tali didn't say anything, but her hand on his shoulder said it better than words.

"Not interrupting anything am I?"

All four turned to the new voice. One I didn't have any trouble identifying.

"Shepard," Tali greeted him.

"Hey, Tali," he returned looking around. "Taking over engineering already?"

"Captain Hebert said we could," Cessi immediately blurted out. "Um, sir."

Shepard chuckled, "Well then I'm sure that's fine. All four of you?"

Tali nodded.

"Alright, that was actually one of the things wanted to talk to you about. Since you're setting up down here, I can open four on the hot bunk rotation. Are you busy at the moment, Tali?"

"Not really. I only had a moment to talk with Engineer Donnelly and Gabriella and I haven't had a chance to really look at the drive core yet, but if there's something going on, that can wait."

"Nothing pressing," Shepard counted. "I was just looking to bring you up to speed on the mission. Maybe catch up on the how the last two years have treated you."

"O-okay. Sure, yeah."

"I should probably check in with the armory myself," Gren mumbled. "Garrus mentioned that some of the weapons on board might benefit from a look over."

"You want Gunny then," Cessi said.

"Miguel," Lia corrected her. "Remember what Captain Hebert said the alias only get used when they are in armor and working."

"Oh, right," Cessi returned. "I forgot about that. Pretty sure they would have gotten the armory moved by now. Come on Gren, I'll show you where it is."

"I'll come too," Lia said tagging along with the departing duo. "We should get our gear out of the way while we can still find it."

The trio left by the left side with Tali and Shepard trailing. They were barely out of sight when a storage locker door opened seemingly by itself. At least, that was the impression until Miguel's head poked out.

"It's clear," He half whispered fully leaving the small confines.

"Oh God, that was so close," an emerging, and very disheveled Sharee moaned. "I can't believe we almost got caught."

"We should just tell them, _Cariño"_

"Are you insane?" Sharee hissed. "No, don't answer that, I already know the answer. Have you seen what Steve and Paige are doing to Taylor over that Aria thing? Do you want them coming after us next?"

Miguel chuckled, nodding, "Right. Still, it would be nice to not have to sneak around. Ships getting crowded and Atlas can't predict everything."

"I know," Sharee mumbled, embracing the man next to her. "Look, let's just wait for things to simmer down, and then we'll tell them. Maybe just Taylor. Or, you know, Dinah, if she hasn't already figured it out."

"Whatever pace you want to set, _Mi Reina."_

"Stop speaking spanish," Sharee swatted Miguel in the chest. "You know what that does to me and we don't have that kind of time. Now hurry up and get to the armory before someone comes looking for you."

"See you later?" He asked leadingly.

"Yeah, after I get Alex down for the night."

Satisfied with that answer, Miguel gave her a quick kiss before heading out. Sharee watched him before turning to the locker door, asking her reflection questions.

"Amy, how do I look?" She asked trying to straighten out her clothes. "Anything out of place?"

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?"

"What… what?"

"Why didn't you… I was not too busy. Who..."

Sharee spun around, eyes upward looking directly at my vent. There was no disguising the smile in my voice when she locked eyes with me. "Hi, Sharee."

"Taylor," She mumbled. A fresh blush burning along her cheeks.

"Make you a deal."

"O-okay?"

"Buy me twenty Paige free minutes away from Deck Four, and I didn't see anything."

It was a testament to how much she feared Steve and Paige finding out that she didn't even hesitate, "Sold!"

I couldn't help it, I laughed.

"It's not funny, Taylor. Things are still very new for us."

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you finally told him."

"Yeah, me too," Sharee muttered, a goofy look in her eye that made my smile widen until I remembered why I hunted her down in the first place.

"Hey, Sharee?"

At my change in tone, Sharee answered wearily, "Yeah?"

"Do you think maybe, after I get my arm, we could… talk about some stuff."

"Talk, like talk _talk_?"

"Um, yeah."

"Oh, yeah, of course! If, I mean, if you feel up to it."

"Not really," I muttered. She didn't catch it so I raised my voice a bit, "But I think I need too. If you don't mind?"

"No of course not," She assured me.

I nodded, even if she couldn't see it. Deciding to lighten things up a bit, I added, "And, you know, maybe not mention that I've been crawling through the ducts? That would be nice too."


	34. The Call 8

**The Call 5.8**

Swearing to himself, Garrus adjusted his armored bulk just enough to finally reach the power cable he was after. Half lying inside the junction of the mass accelerator cannon that some Cerberus idiot named 'Jackhammer'. Unlike all other mass accelerator cannons in service that Garrus had knowledge of, this one wasn't spinal. Even without it, the weapon would be on par with modern Hades cannons most human ships used on their carriers. And that was damn impressive.

Or he would have been impressed with how the design negated the need to run a firing chamber through the whole ship, except for the fact that the gun didn't work. If he had tear ducts, he would have cried when Baker brought him in here. Here was a revolutionary weapon of war, a real marvel of defense engineering, and the damn thing couldn't be fired without frying half the ship's systems or possibly blowing up the ship.

That left the Normandy with only her anti missile Guardian Laser systems and a pair of torpedo launchers -that they didn't even have ammunition for anymore after New Canton- strapped to the hull. In other words, they were flying through the most dangerous parts of the galaxy, naked.

And _that_ wasn't going to work for the turian. It had taken him a great deal of time to feel confident he solved the glaring issues in the cannons construction. Week's lost to redesigning everything, from the power lines to the software, trying to get it online. But now, he finally had free time to actually make those changes happen. If everything tested well, the newly renamed 'Talon' would at least give them something to fight with even if it wasn't ideal.

Garrus was just about to climb out from his awkward position, when the Gunnery doors opened. His fringed tightened as he realized the footsteps weren't as heavy as Shepard. He was the only one who ever visited him. Slowly unsheathing his ever present pistol, Garrus waited to see who was trying to kill him this time while extracting himself as quietly as he could.

His curiosity was answered by a hesitant feminine voice asking, "Garrus?"

"Tali?"

"Yeah," she answered. "Where are you?"

"Over here."

Finally free of the machine, Garrus sheathed his sidearm once he was sure it was actually Tali.

Noticing it, she asked, "Expecting trouble?"

"Always," Garrus mumbled; moving to the terminal to test the repair. "Did you need something?"

Garrus looked up when she didn't reply. Tali was wringing her hands, looking about as uncomfortable as he'd ever seen her. Something had to be really bothering her to make her seek him, of all people, to talk about it.

Despite the fact they were both the only dextros during their time on the original Normandy, they never really associated much outside missions. It wasn't even until they were about to hit the Mu Relay that they could even sit at the mess together without either of them feeling uncomfortable.

The reason for that was that there had been more than a few remarks tossed between them back then. With most of those from Garrus being of the unkind variety. For no reason other than she was a quarian. It was like she wasn't even a person. Merely a faceless representative of a people that created the very machines Saren was using to butcher the galaxy.

Shedding a lifetime of prejudice wasn't easy. And as Shepard pointed out to him once, it was prejudice. Aside from the occasional quarian he'd seen on the Citadel, Tali was the first he ever interacted with. All the 'facts' he spouted at her couldn't hold up to the light of reason and experience once he got to know her. It reminded him of something his instructor told him during his C-Sec training. There are always two sides to a story, and a good investigator finds both.

It hard to realize that everything you thought you knew was fact, was wrong. And he _was_ wrong. Wrong to blindly believe in what he'd been taught. To judge someone because of actions their people might or might not have made. He knew that now and ever since those days fought to not fall into old habits.

But that didn't stop this from being awkward. Trying to push aside his shame at how he acted back then, Garrus apologized. "Sorry."

Unaware of his introspection, Tali nodded easily, "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You're not interrupting anything, Tali. Just not used to people coming in here. Did you get the tour?"

"Shepard showed me around."

"Good. What did you think of Engineering?"

"It's bigger than the old Normandy," Tali said. "I didn't get a chance to explore before Shepard asked to see me."

"Ah," Garrus said.

Tali's anxiety ratcheted when she mentioned Shepard which explained what was bothering her. That meant this conversation was going to be really awkward. Especially if even half of his observations over the last few weeks were anywhere near close to the mark.

Deciding to just bite varren, Garrus asked, "Something on your mind, Tali?"

"Have you noticed anything...off about Shepard?" She asked after a long quiet pause.

"I'm not sure what you mean," Garrus hedged having a pretty good idea where this was leading.

"Um, just that, he seemed strange when I was talking to him earlier."

"Strange, how?"

"Well," Tali muttered. "Like the way he was talking to me? It was like we talked a few weeks ago."

Garrus sighed, "To him, Tali, he _did_ talked you only a few weeks ago."

"Don't patronize me, Garrus. I'm not stupid," Tali snapped. "I understand that but it's still strange. Cessi and Lia said he'd been awake for a few weeks now."

Garrus's fringe pulled backward, unfamiliar with this older, less docile version of his friend. He said nothing but gestured for her to continue.

"He… he doesn't seem to see us any differently. Doesn't seem to notice that _we've_ changed."

"He knows," Garrus mumbled. "What I think you are having a problem with, is that he _hasn't_."

Tali growled. "You don't think I've changed at all."

"I didn't say that."

"You thought it," she said.

Garrus chuckled. "Maybe a little. You're sharper. You're wit is a little quicker, buuutt…"

Tali socked him lightly in his armored shoulder. "Bosh'tet," she said, but her tone indicated there was no heat to the barb.

"Is it such a bad thing? Him thinking we're the same people we were two years ago," Garrus asked after a short but comfortable silence. "Do you really want him to think you're different?"

"Don't you?"

"Not really," Garrus answered. "I don't know what the last two years have been like for you, Tali, but I spent them shooting mercs and other dregs on Omega. Just, going through the motions. Trying to, I don't know, make the galaxy a better place. While there was still time anyways."

"It hasn't been any easier for me, Garrus," Tali whispered. "Not only did we lose Shepard, but the _Normandy_ as well. At first Shepard might have let me tag along to protect me from the Shadow Broker, but I earned my place."

"We all did in our own ways," Garrus said.

"Yes you did, but I was the furthest behind in weapons training," Tali argued. "Everyone had something they could contribute to the mission. Except for me. I'd already given all I had. Shepard didn't need another engineer. Not with Adams or even his own skills. But I pushed myself to catch up. Showed everyone on the ship I deserved to be on the combat roster. That I was more than just some vagrant Shepard felt sorry for."

"No one thought that about you, Tali," Garrus assured her.

"Really? No one?" Tali asked disbelievingly.

Wincing, Garrus awkwardly smoothed his fringe down. "Not later…"

Snorting at his half-hearted words, Tali shook her head. "Later, but not before and your seniority on the ship was maybe three hours over me. I worked hard to earn my place, Garrus. It was the first time I ever felt like I belonged somewhere. The _Normandy_ was more my home than the _Rayya_ ever was. Why do you think I didn't go back to the Fleet after Saren was finished?"

"I don't mean to sound callous, but all of us felt like we lost a home on the Normandy. Do you think you were the only one who felt like you did? I spent my life trying to be what my people wanted me to be. It wasn't until I was on the Normandy that I truly felt that what I was doing was right for _me._ "

Sighing, he continued, "But it was destroyed and we had to moved on. That was just how it was. Now we have a second chance. Are you sure you want to... For him to see you differently?"

Tali was quiet for a while, trying to come up with the right words. "When I saw him alive I didn't believe it. _Couldn't_ believe it, and so I lost my chance to make a better ah… second impression? He hasn't changed a bit. It's like he just slept for a while. He makes me feel like a girl fresh on her pilgrimage again. I have my own team now, Garrus. I've been in _command_. But in five seconds Shepard makes me feel like that little girl who tried to actually SEE the Shadow Broker. Hah. He doesn't even notice..."

"You came to me with this?" Garrus asked incredulously. "I'm the last person to… to… talk to about that sort of thing."

Tali's glowing eyes narrowed behind her tinted face plate. "Who else am I supposed to talk to, Garrus? Who else on this ship would understand? I wish Wrex were here. At least he would give me advice even if it was to just shoot it with a shotgun and eat it. You were the only option available."

"Thanks," Garrus said dryly. "You could talk to Liara."

"You know why that is a horrible idea and if you even suggest Joker, I'm hacking your omni tool every day until this mission is done."

Garrus winced knowing that was not an idle threat, nor one that he wanted to ever happen to him. Again. "Well, there's a couple of people trained for that sort of thing. Kelly Chambers…"

"Cerberus," Tali growled.

"Ah, don't like Cerberus much huh?" Garrus chuckled. "I mean, aside for why none of us really like Cerberus. It sounds like something more than just the usual, I-don't-like-murdering-psychopaths."

"They tried to blow up one of our ships and murdered my people," Tali deadpanned.

"Ah. That'd do it." Garrus drawled. "On the other hand, they brought Shepard back."

"To use for their own agenda."

"Probably," Garrus agreed. "Well if you don't want to talk to Chambers, you can always talk to one of Hebert's people. Sharee Rockford has...

"Hebert? She's half the _problem!_ "

"Oh?" Garrus asked leading. "I didn't think you had a chance to talk to her yet."

"I haven't," Tali said. "But according to Cessi and Lia she's the reason why there is still Cerberus on this ship. She recruited them!"

"Technically they're ex-Cerberus and she recruited them at gunpoint. That would sort of make them more like conscripts than actual recruits," Garrus corrected, ignoring the narrowing of her eyes. "At least, that is what I was told. She drugged Taylor and Lawson when she kidnapped them if that helps any."

"It doesn't. She should have shot them. Twice."

Chuckling, Garrus nodded, "To be fair Hebert's conscripts don't fit the stereotype you would expect from Cerberus. A few small things aside, they've all been fairly welcoming to the non-humans Hebert and Shepard brought on board."

"She came out of nowhere," Tali grumbled ignoring Garrus's points. "How does she even know Shepard? All he would tell me was that she was the one who freed him from Cerberus with Liara, Chakwas and you."

"I don't really know," Garrus admitted. "They have a history, I know that much but neither have told me about it. I know they talked once but I don't know what it was about. It was in the Captain's Quarters and they haven't really talked outside of missions since."

"Well, I don't trust her," Tali stated. "There's something not right about her. Cessi and Lia told me that she used to be one of Shepard's squad mates but when I asked him for details he wouldn't talk about it."

"You know how Shepard is, Tali," Garrus said. "He likes knowing everything there is to know about his people, but getting the man to open up about himself is like trying to get Wrex to share his dinner."

"Maybe," Tali grudging admitted. "She still hired Cerberus personnel to crew the ship! And don't even get me started on the damn AI's. AI's. Plural, Garrus. Not one or two, but _three!_ "

"Ah," Garrus winced knowing that was a hot button for the suited woman. "Heard about that already huh?"

"Yes I heard about the _unshackled_ AI's on board," Tali growled. "Doesn't she know how dangerous they are? Why haven't you or Shepard already dealt with them? You know how they are!"

"They haven't tried to kill us yet…"

" _Yet."_

"...and Hebert convinced Shepard to give them a chance. He agreed. I know Liara works with one of them and it helps her manage the Shadow Broker's network. Not sure what Hebert's does aside from spooking people with how it talks, but the other one, EDI, does a lot on ship. There isn't a crewmen on board who hasn't worked with it."

"It's just a matter of time. You know that Garrus. Shepard should delete all three of them. Or space them. Preferably into a star. Along with a few torpedoes. Just to make sure."

Watching the glowering woman, Garrus observed, "I guess you really have changed."

"What does that mean?"

Shrugging Garrus answered, "You're more forceful in saying what you think. You're sharing your opinions without being asked. The old Tali never would have done that. Nor would she ever have questioned a Captain's decisions like this. Or raged about people she never even had a conversation with. I'd say it was an improvement, except we both know that you haven't told me what's _really_ bothering you."

For the first time since Tali entered there was silence broken only by the usual sounds Garrus associated with the Gunnery Room.

"Tell me it's really him, Garrus," Tali asked. Her voice barely above a whisper. "Tell me it's really Shepard."

"It's really him, Tali," Garrus answered surely. "After Chakwas said it was, I had a few lingering doubts too. It's hard to believe, and that doesn't even account for Cerberus's part in this whole mess. It wasn't until I fought beside him on New Canton that I fully believed. An impostor or fake might have been able to fool us with words, but _no one_ fights like Shepard."

Unexpectedly, and horrifying to Garrus, Tali leaned into his armored chest. Making strange noises while her body quaked slightly.

"Ah, you're doing that strange humanoid crying thing," He muttered uncomfortably; arms held away from himself and the woman clutching his armor. "Please stop."

"Bosh'tet," Tali chuckled softly but didn't stop. "If you tell anyone about this, Garrus, I just want you to remember something."

"Yeah, that's not likely to happen," Garrus muttered still standing awkwardly. "But just in case, because this is actually decent blackmail material, what am I supposed to remember?"

"I have a shotgun."

"Right. Never tell a soul. Understood."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

"I think that's enough for now," Sharee said.

Nodding, I continued adjusting the software on the bug control board in my arm. When Greg took out the Firefly he felt the need to install these but for some reason used the old scripts from before we developed the extra appendages on my armor. Probably just an oversight on his part since he updated translation scripts with the ones Cessi and Lia helped him create for the T-5's. Still, it was a good idea in case something happened to the signal translators that converted organic to machine impulses in my grafts like when my arm was half crushed by Harbinger.

It totally wasn't an attempt to deal with the awkwardness of talking to Sharee about stuff. And anyone who said differently was a dirty lying liar who lied.

"Are you okay, Taylor?" Sharee asked. "Be honest, I know this hasn't been easy for you."

"Yeah," I shrugged. "Is it weird that I feel kinda awkward about...all this?"

"No. It's expected. At least that's what my textbook said."

Looking up revealed Sharee smiling at me. Rolling my eyes I smiled back letting her put her arm around me.

"Seriously, it's okay to feel however you feel. You've been through a lot and most of the time there was barely any time for you to internalize, much less actually deal with what happened."

"I'm not the only one who's been through stuff," I mumbled. "All of us have."

"That is true, but you were always pushing yourself to the next objective. Looking for and finding another mission. If you couldn't, you would make one up. It was only after you retired that there was a chance for you to heal, but then you threw yourself into schooling. That didn't include the three jobs you were working to fill time. To be honest, I think you went out of your way to avoid social connection. Emotional healing. You just… dodged it in favor of the next..."

"I never did down time well," I interrupted. "But you guys had to deal with stuff too, and you all seemed to find out how to make this stuff less awkward."

"Yeah, but the rest of us also have ways of dealing with our issues that don't involve ignoring it or funding local mortuaries," Sharee half joked.

"I'm not that bad," I groused.

"I know a few city mayors that would beg to differ."

"Traitor."

"Villain," Sharee corrected.

I shook my head at her overblown haughtiness.

"Speaking of villainy," Sharee continued picking up the data pad my arrival had her put aside. "I wanted to run something by you."

"This is a shameless attempt to get my mind off things and make me feel better, isn't' it?"

"Yes it is."

"It's working," I said smiling at having something other than my feelings to talk about. "What have you got for me?"

Before she could answer, my omni tool chimed. " _Taylor?"_

"Yeah, Liara?"

" _Could I speak with you a moment?"_

"I guess," I answered confused. What could she want to talk to me about? We didn't have a meeting scheduled that I forgot about, did we? "Doors unlocked."

" _Yes, but there is a very large varren on this side of it,"_ Liara said dryly. " _Would you mind?"_

"Oh, right," I chuckled weakly as I rose to open the door. "I forgot about that."

Opening the door showed that Urz was very much still there. Eye's locked on Liara who was standing by the mess tables. Thankfully, I didn't see Paige anywhere.

"It's okay, Urz. Come on in, Liara."

Urz didn't growl, but he did follow Liara inside. Once I'd sat back down on the couch next to Sharee, Urz walked over putting his head in my lap. I scratched his jaw line while waiting to find out what Liara wanted. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long.

Taking a seat across from us, Liara said, "Shepard's plotting a course to Tuchanka to speak with Wrex. Before that, he's going to stop by Illium to drop me off so I can talk to a contact of mine that has information we need. There are also supplies for the _Normandy_ I need to arrange for as well as a few other things. I was wondering if you would like to come with me?"

"Was there a reason I should?" I asked confused.

"No," Liara answered easily. "I just thought you might be interested and to be honest, I wouldn't mind the company. There is quite a lot to Illium I'm sure you didn't have a chance to see yet and I will be traveling around quite a bit while I'm there."

Feeling the small hairs on the back of my neck rise, I tried to squash the feeling that I was being set up for something. "Um, I'm not sure. Let me check on a few things and I'll let you know before we arrive."

"That's fine," Liara agreed. Her smile just as warm as it always was, but I still couldn't shake that feeling.

"Um, was there anything else?"

"No, not really," Liara answered. "I'll let you get back to your talk."

"Alright."

"That was weird," I mumbled once she left.

"Taylor?"

Shaking my head, I turned back to Sharee. "It's nothing. Probably just me being paranoid. Anyways, you said you had something to talk to me about?"

"Yeah," Sharee said not looking convinced. "I've been going over our funds."

"This doesn't sound like good news."

"It's not," Sharee confirmed.

"You know, bad news isn't going to help me feel better."

"Don't lie to yourself. You're absolutely _dying_ for a problem to fix," Sharee stated surely. "Besides, who's the psychologist here?"

I rolled my eyes while Sharee picked up a data pad.

"I talked to Shepard," Sharee said typing away on the data pad. "But he can't give me anything solid to work with when it comes to Alliance help. Which means I only have the resources Liara allocated from the Shadow Broker's network to plan things."

"We can't be running out of money yet."

"No, we're still fairly flush," Sharee said. "However, with the way we're burning through it if the mission takes longer than two months, we're going to start having problems."

"What's our biggest expense?"

"Helium-3. The prices skyrocketed a few weeks ago when Blue Suns Mercs captured an Eldfell Ashland Refinery on Zorya. The company took a huge hit and stocks fell almost as fast as the prices rose."

"Ashland can't be the only supplier of Helium-3."

"No, but they're the biggest. If we shopped around we would get better prices, but that means resupplying at only key locations instead of those that are convenient because we happen to be there."

"You wouldn't bring this up if that was our only problem," I noted. "What else is draining the accounts?"

In answer, Sharee handed over the data pad.

It was a very through -long- list.

"Well, shit," I muttered after only making it a quarter of the way through.

Sharee nodded beside me. "Yeah. Some of it we can work around, like the food issue. Batarians don't generally eat the same thing as the rest of us, but they can make due with it and we only have one on the roster. Quarians though, are pretty specific and we have four now. Then there is Garrus, who does eat the same thing as quarians, but is the only one who doesn't need it sanitized or put into meal canisters. Actually, he flat out asked me not to even sanitize his food for him. Said it tasted funny."

"Cessi and Lia never complained about it."

"No, but I think that has more to do with how picky Garrus is than my cooking."

Personally, I liked her cooking but then again, I never tried anything she cooked meant for dextros; obviously. Probably didn't help she couldn't taste test any of it either but Cessi and Lia had nothing but praise for her efforts.

"I thought Gardner was doing most of the cooking now."

"He does for most of us, but only the regular stuff. Says he doesn't know anything about cooking for dextros."

"Is there really that much of a difference?"

"Kinda," Sharee answered. "Different ingredients and quarian and turian cultures have different recipes for similar things. I found over twenty different recipes for just one dish this morning. That was just because different turian colonies have different cultural variations for it. Other wise, it's pretty much the same. Personally I think Gardner doesn't like cooking for them because their non-humans, but other than this he's been alright."

"Hmm," I agreed. More to move the conversation along than any opinion going either way. I'd noticed that in a few of our Cerberus recruits, but like Gardner, they'd mostly kept any animosity they might or might not have to themselves.

"So we can work around that," I said instead. "What we are not going to be able to work around though are these huge expenses from our labs and fabrication stations. I had no idea we were burning through that much material. Much less that some of it cost that much."

"Yeah, but we're not set up to smelt or process our own metals like we did on the _Exiled_ either," Sharee pointed out. "Not in these quantities. Not including the serious time loss in building things from scratch, even if we were, we would need to find planets with resources that haven't been staked out by someone already. That is really time consuming. This isn't like what the guys used to do when you were Earth hopping because we have no idea where the minerals we need are. We'd lose days or weeks looking and then there is the time to actually mine our own stuff. Even with the automated probes Greg has made we'd be stuck out in the middle of nowhere spending hours per planet slowly scanning square by square for scraps. That doesn't even include travel time to the next planet or system just to repeat the process while most of us on ship just sat around doing nothing."

I groaned. That sounded like _such_ a time sink.

"That doesn't even include the stuff we couldn't make for ourselves even if we wanted to. Like the bio stuff that went into Mordin's lab. We got lucky that Cerberus anticipated most of what that lab would need, but Mordin gave me a list of things I didn't even know existed until I went looking for it."

"Let me guess, it's all really expensive tech and supplies."

"Yeah, and some of these things we can only get through the Broker's network since it's kind of illegal in Citadel Space to privately own it."

"Of course it is," I deadpanned. "So what you're telling me is if we hope to maintain our upgrade schedule and to acquire and install all the tech that we need; we need a large infusion of cash. And we need it yesterday."

"That, or a solid steady one," Sharee agreed. "But unless we're going into the merc business and were willing to take some real sketchy contracts, we'd be better off with just a big payday."

"Sebastian never mentioned how much it cost to live in this galaxy," I complained half to myself.

Sharee nodded, "Yeah but he probably didn't even know. From what you told me, the Alliance, Council, and then Cerberus paid for most of this stuff the first time around. This time it's on us."

Chuckling at the truth of that statement, I mused, "You know, if this was Earth Bet I'd…"

I slowly turned to Sharee noticing she was smiling widely; eye's glittering knowingly. "You can't be serious."

Instead of replying, Sharee tapped on the datapad changing pages.

"Holy shit, you are serious. Where the hell did you get the time to plan all this?"

"I've actually been working on it off and on," She answered still smiling. "You know, for fun. It's based off an idea Lisa and I kicked around when you guys were nomadic. We never used it because we never really needed to. Most people who crossed us were either just not worth the effort, too poor to justify how much work it would be to do something like this, or it was easier to just eliminate them, take what we wanted and call it done."

"Why this guy?" I asked. Looking over the page, I couldn't find a single fault with any of the data except for the nagging feeling that Sharee's target's name was familiar.

"He's disgustingly rich," Sharee answered. "Has his fingers in a lot of pies. Most people think he's just this eccentric patron who supports the arts. Also big on donations to various charities all over council space. A real humanitarian. He was even in Times last year."

"But?"

"But under all that he's a sadistic douchebag who uses his public face as a cover for his real business. Slavery, smuggling, illegal tech, weapons, you name it. A real dirty bastard. Like an evil Howard Hughes.

"According to Liara's information network, he has deep ties to just about every organized merc band in the Terminus you can think of. He's also involved in illegal weapons development and gunrunning tech inside council space. The Broker's file on him suggests he's a huge backer to various pirates going all the way back to the attack on Elysium. As well as dozens of others all the way up to a few months ago. He even directly employs his own private army."

"Why did he stop a few months ago?"

"He didn't," Sharee answered. "That's when data stopped coming in and there hasn't been an update to whoever the old Broker had on that job."

"Ah."

"Anyway, back to this guy. So, he's into all that, right? But his real niche is the illegal artifacts trade. Things like prothean relics or pre Rebellion krogan stuff. Rumor has it he's got stuff from races that haven't even been discovered by anyone else yet. Stuff that's super rare or literally one of a kind. Anything like that, he's in on it."

Nodding, I pointed out, "You know that anyone who's been in the game as long as this guy has, has enemies. The fact he's still around means he's either gotten very good at keeping them at bay, or he's killed all the ones that could be a threat."

"Yeah, he's also known for not being shy about it," Sharee agreed. "Like I said, a real dirty bastard."

Shaking my head, I said, "You sure know how to pick them, Sharee."

"Thanks!" She cheerfully said. "So, what do you think?"

"I can't think of a nicer guy to rob blind," I replied honestly. "But it's not going to be easy and I'm not even talking about how we're supposed to move any of the crap we take."

"Well, according to his file, he has a manufacturing plant under his house where he manufactures weapons and ordnance. I'm sure some of that we could use."

"Greg will love that," I snickered. "Are these blueprints on his house accurate?"

"They're the ones the Broker had on file, but I'm not sure how accurate they are," Sharee answered. "But I would think they'd be close. The Shadow Broker used an inside man to get them."

"He still around?"

"Killed three months ago in an air car accident."

"Convenient."

"Yeah. That's what I thought too. Especially considering that's when the data stopped coming in to the Broker."

"We're going to need up-to-date information on his place. He would have changed things after the mole was discovered," I said carefully going through the schematic. "His house is practically a fortress."

"Yeah, but I had an idea for that too."

"Oh? Do tell."

Sharee answered bringing up another page on the data pad. "In a week he's throwing a party for the who's who of the galaxy's most influential and successful crime lords."

"Seriously? He's actually throwing a Villain Party?"

"Yeah, a kind of 'Yay Us' thing," Sharee snorted. "The good news is that if we do hit him, this would be the perfect time to do it. People security will be higher than normal, but only in the public areas where the party is and perimeter. On the other hand it's going to be easier to move around and most of his automated defenses are going to be limited to key areas. Not to mention it's going to be easier to get lost in the crowd since there's going to be one. Normally, it's just him and his army."

"Not a lot of time," I noted. "I'm not sure we can pull this off by then. We're going to need just about everyone to pull this off. While I'd take Shepard's people into a firefight against anyone, something like this?"

Sharee quieted while I went over everything again. Weighing the pro's and con's in my mind.

I tapped my omni tool, "Steve."

"Uber is not aboard the Normandy, Matriarch," Atlas answered.

"Did you know about this?" I asked Sharee.

Shaking her head looking about as confused as I was, Sharee replied, "First I've heard of it. Where is he, Atlas?"

"Uber is currently aboard a transit shuttle bound for the Eagle Nebula."

"Open a com line, Atlas," I ordered. Whatever Steve was up to, it was already apparent Atlas wasn't going to out him.

It took almost a minute before Steve answered. That he was whispering gave me an idea why it took so long, " _Hey, kinda crowded here. What's up?"_

"What's up is that you are on a transit going to the Eagle Nebula and didn't tell anyone you were leaving," I answered sternly.

" _Like I'm going to stick around and get bee'd."_ Steve snorted, " _Do I look like an idiot?"_

" _You,_ " I whispered harshly."You sent that message to Joker from Omega."

" _Ah, no. I would never do something like that…"_

"I am going to be waiting for you at your stop, Steve, and I'm going to hurt you. Bad enough you sicked Paige on me..."

The line suddenly sounded broken with static garbling everything. " _Can't...you...problems...line…"_

"This is a QEC line, Steve," I reminded him. "They don't get static."

" _Oh, right,"_ Steve muttered over the suddenly clean line. " _Shit, forgot about that."_

"Why are you going to Eagle Nebula?" I snarled. "And it had better be for a good reason other than avoiding me."

" _You have to admit that avoiding you right now is a pretty good reason though, right?"_

"Steve."

" _Damn, chill. You wrecked our shuttle,"_ Steve answered. " _So Greg and I are going to get new one. Well, another one anyway."_

"Steve," I sighed. "You know better than to take off like that. If you had at least let Sharee know what you were doing you would know we don't have a quarter of a million credits just lying around for another combat shuttle. We'll pick you up..."

" _We're not getting another combat shuttle."_

"Huh?"

" _We already have the_ Lex-Talionis," Steve explained. " _A bit of work and she's going to be a beast. Two would be overkill. What we don't have is something really fast for these side trips we keep needing to make. So that's what we're getting."_

"We still don't have that kind of money, Steve," I patiently explained. "Sharee and I were just going over that very subject. If you had just man'ed up to the ass kicking you have coming, you'd know that and the last six minutes could have been talk about how we're going to fix the situation."

" _We're not buying it. We're stealing it. So it's all good."_

"Jesus, Steve," I cursed. "Seriously? How in the hell did you plan on getting from there, _and_ out run every ship that's likely to be chasing you, back to us without getting arrested? Or worse, shot down?"

" _That's why I brought Greg,"_ Steve chuckled. " _Trust me. We'll be fine."_

I almost laughed. Especially with the way Sharee was trying to muffle her's. I rolled my eyes instead.

"You're an idiot and I'm still going to brain you later," I muttered. "If you don't get arrested or killed, how long before you two will be ready for some real work?"

" _Er, hang on a sec,"_ Steve muttered. He came back a moment later, " _We still have about two days transit time. Figure about a couple of hours to do what we need to and hit a relay. Maybe a day or so to do some scouting and stuff. So, three or four days. Why? What kind of work you planning?"_

"Just be on the planet Bekenstein of the Boltzmann system in three days, Steve. If you can't do what you want to do in that time, catch another transit but be there. "

" _Kind of a populated place to take a hot shuttle,"_ Steve noted. " _Just sayin'."_

"Figure it out, Steve," I said. "According to Sharee we only have a week before we lose our window to do this gig. Details when you're planetside."

" _Awesome,"_ Steve muttered. " _We'll be there."_

Cutting the line I groused, "He couldn't have picked a worse time to pull something like this."

"Yeah, but it is totally something Steve would do," Sharee snickered. "So, we're doing this?"

"Maybe," I said. "First we're going to need up to date intel on the house and as much as I hate to admit it, Steve did make a point about needing a fast shuttle for situations like this. Hopefully he can get one in the time frame we have."

"Hmm, well I could see what Liara has available through the Broker's contacts. You know, send one of those guys there to look around."

"No, too much risk word will slip." I said.

Opening up an extranet page, I cycled through various adverts before finding what I was looking for. "Liara said she's getting dropped off on Illium. That works for several reasons and transit time from there to the Serpent Nebula isn't that bad."

"Who were you planning on sending?"

"You actually."

"What?"

Moving so Sharee could see the page I had up on my omni tool, I explained, "The beaches of Bekenstein are famous. Kind of like those in Europe back on Earth in the past. Well, not our Earth, but you know what I mean.

"Anyway, our target owns a huge stretch of land that overlooks New Karanth, and incidentally, New Karanth's beaches. We need up to date intel, so you go there, enjoy the beaches while using your power to scout his place. There isn't a security feature in this whole galaxy that can stop you from getting everything we need to know."

"Yeah, and I'm sure Alex would love it," Sharee agreed. "I've never taken him to a beach before. Well, not since we lived in Brockton Bay but he was just a baby."

"I'm sure he will but I don't think it would be a good idea for just the two of you. Take Miguel with you. You guys can go as husband and wife. Sell the couples retreat angle."

"Seriously?" Sharee asked hopefully.

"Sure," I answered smiling. Easily seeing Sharee's eyes glaze over. Most likely from images of warm sun, sand, saltwater and a certain hard body. "There's enough people on board to keep things running without you guys here and I'm sure you two can find _something_ to do to fill in time while your power is scouting."

"Best assignment ever," Sharee dreamily said while looking glassy eyed at the wall.

"It should be," I said rolling my eyes. "You planned it."

"Uh-huh. _Best assignment ever…"_ She repeated.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Sighing, Steve deactivated his omni tool taking a look around to make sure no one overheard him. Not seeing anyone, he considered his options making his way back to his seat.

The transit shuttle -laughably called The Sweet Princess- could have given the old Greyhound buses of his home dimension a run for the title of 'Good Transportation Ideas Done Wrong'.

It was about what you would expect for a cheap no questions transport. Every seat of the three rows of two was filled. The seats themselves didn't look like they were designed for any one race specifically, which mean while some could barely say they were comfortable, many weren't. That didn't even account for different smells mingling from so many unwashed bodies of different races, whatever they brought for food, or whatever else was clogging up the air. Also, there was only one bathroom, and whoever ran this transit either didn't clean it before leaving Omega, or some of the passengers had trouble using the facilities. That, or they didn't care. Judging by the dispositions of most of the people on the transit, it could have gone either way.

Moving through the crowded walkway under the surly watchful eyes of his fellow passengers, Steve managed to get back to his seat without knocking anything over or stepping on other people's things.

"So," Greg muttered looking up from his omni tool. "What did Sister Mary want?"

"To chew me out for not letting her kick my ass," Steve answered. "You know how The Penguin is."

"She wouldn't have called for just that," Greg said, pointing out the obvious. "She'd have just surprised us by waiting at our change over with a biblical bugapocalypse."

"Yeah," Steve agreed. Looking around showed that most of the people around them were either sleeping or doing their best to ignore everyone else.

Leaning a bit toward Greg and keeping his voice down, Steve said, "There's a bit of problem. She needs us somewhere specific for a thing."

Frowning, Greg asked, "Mission related?"

"Kinda, but it didn't sound like it," Steve answered. "More like fund raising. Didn't give me details, just to be at the place in time. Which is a big problem for us."

"How much of a problem?"

"To be where we're supposed to be on time means there won't be enough time for scouting our gig," Steve explained. "As it is, we have enough time to nab our ride, get there, and maybe have a couple of hours to work. Otherwise we won't make the rendezvous."

Frowning, Greg asked, "How much time do we have?"

"Three days and we'll burn a bit under two in transit."

"Shit."

"Yeah."

"That's not a lot," Greg noted.

"Yeah."

"You think we should call it off?"

It was on his mind to do just that. This was supposed to be a tech run and a fun challenge. Taylor wouldn't have sounded like she did unless she had something big planned. That they weren't committed yet was also something to consider.

"Don't you think we should?" Steve asked.

His friend's answer surprised him, "Hell no man."

"Seriously?" He couldn't help asking. "Man, I was joking about it earlier, but you know this gig is big time. No room for error. Even with time to scout and plan, we'd only get one shot at getting it right. We would at least need enough time to account for normal work issues."

"Don't worry about me," Greg assured him knowing perfectly well Steve was talking about his blackouts.

At Steve's concerned look, Greg continued, "Seriously man, I'm good. As a matter of fact, I've been working on something that I'm pretty sure fixes that issue."

"Really? Because we've tried stuff before and nothing's really stuck."

"I'm sure," Greg said surely. "We can do this and we really need what we're after for the mission. I don't know about you, but I haven't been comfortable running around unarmed. Not around here, you know? Glowstick boy got through the stealth tech once and even Sister Mary doesn't think we've seen all their cards yet."

"Yeah, that was why I wanted to do this in the first place," Steve half agreed. "But man, if we do this as a smash and grab odds get a bit lean, you know?"

"Who's the tinker?" Greg smirked. "You let me worry about fixing the odds. We have a kick ass theme to run, awesome characters to portray, and a ballsy as fuck mission to pull off. We got this. We're going to be legends, dude."

Looking over his friend, Steve shook his head. In all the years they'd been running together, he'd never seen Greg this confident. Not in himself, nor his tech.

"Well shit, man," Steve smirked. "Let's light this bitch up. After all, we are on a mission from God."

"That's all I'm sayin," Greg agreed, smirking back behind his ray ban sunglasses.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

A lone woman looked way from the readouts displayed on her shuttles dash to the view screen and her reflection. Handsome would be the human term, she mused, for how she looked. An appearance marred by her still healing skin grafts. The days of maiden vanity were long behind her, but she knew it was only a matter of time before the rough pink patches returned to her natural blueish tone. An unfortunate side effect of a hurried surgery to remove what had at one time been a mercenary career's worth of facial markings. Each hard earned while serving with her fellow Eclipse Sisters.

But like her maiden days, her career as a mercenary was behind her now too. Practically another life. It _was_ another life, or so she told herself while trying to do everything to make that so. Besides, if there was anyone from her old life that even cared to answer the question of her disappearance they would have said she was dead. Killed in the same crash that killed the others she worked with at the time.

Untrue, but it would take far more than a cursory glance at the wreckage to know it. But all that was behind her now. Now she was just Elkita. No past ties to anyone. Just another simple cargo hauler. But that wasn't the assignment that brought her to this unremarkable planet.

And it was unremarkable. There was nothing about this planet that stood out. Not within its climate zones, landmasses, oceans, or subterranean zones. All accounts were fairly normal for the label garden world for most galactic species. Despite the fact it was far off established trade routes and well away from any organized government, it would have been a good place to put a colony. Well, as long as those wishing to live here didn't mind isolation and a basic lack of modern technology.

The lone standout trait this planet did possessed, was that colony had been established at some point. However, as Elkita looked away from the landing pad to the colony itself all she could note was that it was quiet. Not the easy quiet that came from it's inhabitants sleeping, but the kind of quiet that exists when there wasn't a soul to be found for miles. Not even a hum of electricity broke the stillness. Nor did any lights shine in the early dawn light settling over the buildings. Orbital scans confirmed that there were no power sources currently active. Dead, wouldn't be an inaccurate assessment of the place. Dead or abandoned. The latter being more the case from the reports of the last time anyone set foot here.

Exiting her craft, Elkita easily walked down the undamaged stairs. This was the place, she could feel it. Almost taste it in the air. Letting her biotics guide her steps, she followed the scent taking vague note of the sacred buildings, broken mechs, and other damages the colony boosted. All that really mattered to Elkita was the unidentifiable -yet undeniable- scent.

Blast craters, bullet strewn walls, destroyed air cars, and other scenes passed with only peripheral notice until she found herself in what could only have been a place of a fierce pitched battle. Here the damage touched everything. Flame stained buildings stood surrounded by craters and scorched technology. Nothing grew here but remnants of trees stood resolute in their graves like tombstones of half burned wood marking where once majestic titans once towered.

Elkita lost the scent here. Or more accurately, it seemed to exist everywhere. But that was fine. She was close enough now to hear the echo of what she sought. It was only a buzz on her consciousness, barely detectable unless one knew what to listen for. Elkita did, and followed it to it's source.

Crossing half the distance she arrived at the source. Kneeling, Elkita carefully shifted through the ashes before lifting up the shell of an insect as lifeless as the area around them.

An incredible trumpet of command. Transcendence. Freedom from all weakness. To be one with no beginning or end. Eternal. Order over chaos. Blaring noise tearing at her mind. Sour yellow notes.

Impossibly rivaled by brilliant reds and void blacks. A voice unwilling to bend to lies herald as truths. Pain, sorrow, and agony entwined tightly around strings of rage and undying fury.

Gasping, Elkita's body jerked never noticing the hollow carapace fall back into the ashes below her. Nor did she notice her tears falling from the abrupt experience. Kneeling in the ashes of this dead colony, Elktia used every calming technique she ever learned trying to get control of her rampant emotions.

Only once finished with her seventh rendition of Athame's Grace did Elkita feel she ready to continue. With shaking hands, she slowly pulled free the small crystal attached to a chain around her neck.

"I was right," Elkita whispered to the crystal. She listened to a melody only she could hear. No words were spoken, but within the shifting tones and notes concepts and understanding reached her.

"Yes, I am sure."

"Of course."

"I understand."

"Yes, I believe I know who to seek now."

"I will go to Illium. Anyone who travels the Terminus eventually passes through there."

"I understand, My Queen," Elkita whispered. "It may take me some time, but I will find her. I will answer the call."


	35. The Call 9

*** **Necromancy Omake*****

 _The actual chapter takes place below, just thought I'd share a giggle._

All around the pitch black cavernous room, the only light came from several torches spaced in a circle. With the circle, six hooded figures rested on their knees, bowing and chanting the same phrase over and over. Their low tones slowly building and strangely in sync with the flutter of the flames dancing in the non-existent wind.

Several moments past uninterrupted, the chanting slowly building until it reached it's crescendo, and all six figures threw their hands up, shouting one final unintelligible word.

The silence that followed was broken only by the hissing of the torches, and one solitary cricket.

"Did it work?" a feminine voice asked unsurely from the circle.

Breaking the circle, one of the figures moved toward the center of the circle where a large book rested unchanged on a small pedestal.

"Dunno," a confused masculine voice answered before the figure poked the book with stick. "I think so?"

"Twenty-two point six five one three, that anyone will notice, much less care," a different feminine voice stated.

"Alright, I'm done," an authoritative voice declared. Throwing back her hood revealed a dark haired young woman.

"Come on, Taylor. Just...give it a second," pleaded another. "Sometimes it takes a little while for the undead to...you know, do stuff."

"I only agreed to this lunacy because I was promised it was going be fun. Someone lied," Taylor said, taking off the course robe and throwing it aside before turning to the figure that spoke, narrowing her eyes. "Looking at you, Steve."

"Er…"

"Well, to be fair," a prior speaker noted as she took off her own robe revealing a blonde long haired teen. Her dragonfly hair clip sparkling in the torchlight. "It has been a long time and that doesn't include other projects that have been going on in the last few months."

"Dinah's got a point," the revealed form of Paige cheerfully agreed. Her own robe pooled at her feet as she adjusted her hair trying to smooth down a few errant feathers that were dislodged by her hood. "And our popularity was never really that high compared to others."

"O-well," Miguel said, chuckling. "If nothing else, at least we're back, right?"

"Dude. Are you wearing, and only wearing I should add, a _speedo_?" Steve asked uncomfortably.

"Yeah."

" _Why?"_

"Ah, because I'm going to the beach later and I can?" Miguel returned unashamed. "Also…"

Following his pointed thumb to the figure next to him, Steve looked at Sharee whose eyes were locked on Miguel seeming unaware that she was drooling.

"Good point," Steve conceded, nodding.

Suddenly lights erupted overhead, illuminating the cargo bay to its fullest causing all six parahumans to momentarily look around in confusion.

"Ah, bad time?"

Turning to the new arrival showed Shepard flanked by both Tali and Garrus. The data pad in Shepard's hand seemingly forgotten as he looked at the very strange gathering.

"Is this...normal human behavior?" Tali asked Garrus unable to take her eyes off the strange sight before them.

"For these humans, I actually think it is," Garrus mumbled.

"That is horribly unassuring."

Ignoring everyone else and looking thankful for something else to talk about, Taylor nonchalantly asked Shepard, "Something up?"

"Just wondering why half the ground team is in the cargo bay surrounding...is that a book?" Shepard answered, bemused by the flustered looks on their faces.

"Yes it is," Taylor answered neutrally.

"And...exactly why are you gathered around a book, in a blacked out cargo bay, surrounded by torches, _chanting?_ "

"Necromancy."

"...Necromancy."

"Yeah, necromancy. You know, bringing things back to life? Or as in most cases, half-life? Or is that just plain undead?" Taylor asked herself, thinking. "I guess that's one of those glass half full half empty questions, huh?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Shepard sighed. "I thought I asked you guys not to do anything...bizarre for a while. I distinctly remember asking after we had to go into the Shrike Nebula to deal with the jelly beans that were constructing doomsday weapons and selling them on Gbay."

"No, you asked us not to let Leet tinker anymore sentient things bent on blowing up or taking over the Galaxy," Taylor corrected. "You never said we couldn't try reviving dead things. So, yeah. We did that."

Sighting again, Shepard shook his head. "She's not wrong…"

Behind them, the until now book, jerked, drawing all eyes to it. A moment later, it shuddered, then gave a violent jerk that opened the book. Electricity sparked from the object, arcing uncontrollably everywhere as pages started to mysteriously turn rapidly.

"It lives!" Greg shouted triumphantly, only for everything to suddenly stop as if it had never started. "No, wait. Shit. It's dead again."

Ten seconds passed with all eyes on the still book when it erupted in a display that made the prior one pale in comparison. Cargo pods were knocked down, walls were scorched, and the deck plating quivered.

Through it all, Steve laughed maniacally, the only one still in his robe, head thrown back with his arms raised shouting, "Yes. YES! It's alive! IT'S ALIVE, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH!"

"Garrus, I'm scared," Tali whimpered.

"We're all scared, Tali," the stunned turian whispered back.

Staring blankly at the spectacle, Shepard deadpanned, "You are without doubt, the weirdest people I have ever encountered. Of all time."

"It's a gift," Taylor said, watching her friends dance around the revived book, smiling softly.

 _Now, on with the story..._

 **The Call 5.9**

Dinah opened her eyes. The soft lighting above her was blinding, forcing her to close them just as quickly.

"Ah, you're awake. Good. How are you feeling, my dear?"

"Like I was kidnapped again," Dinah groaned trying to open her eyes again. "About time too, my voucher only needed one more punch for, like, ever."

Thankfully, the overhead lights were blocked by a chuckling, if slightly puzzled, Doctor Chakwas. "I'm not sure I understand."

"Long story, but the short of it is, I've been kidnapped a few times," Dinah explained groggily. "By people who wanted me to use my power. After the second time, Taylor made me an omni tool. For self defence."

"Sensible, though I'm not sure how this is relevant to how you feel."

"Well, villains figured out pretty quickly they needed to either surprise me or put me down hard and fast before the Undersiders got there. They did both which meant drugging me, usually with tranquilizers."

"And how many times has this happened to you, exactly?"

"Being drugged or being kidnapped?"

"Both."

"Drugged, a couple of dozen maybe?" Dinah half asked herself. "Not really sure, kinda lost count after a while and it was a sometime ago. Actually getting kidnapped, um, only a few times. Usually Tattletale and the other Undersiders caught the guy before they got far with me, but a few managed to get me out of the city. Taylor usually found me within a few days though."

"And the voucher?"

Smiling despite her haze, Dinah answered. "Kind of an inside joke. Being kidnapped is kinda scary. Especially when you're as young as I was. Joking about it helped, back then. Which reminds me, Steve never did make me that t-shirt like he promised after the last time. I keep forgetting to ask him about it."

"Ah, I see." Chakwas said sounding noticeably unsure even in Dinah's addled state. "Well, that is not the case here, Miss Alcott, I assure you. At least as far as kidnapping goes. As for the grogginess, that is an expected side effect of the treatment I have been using."

"I don't like feeling like this. I really hate being drugged."

"It should pass in a few moments and the good news is that it's working. Going forward, if properly managed, I believe this treatment will not need to be so extreme."

"Seventy six point three percent change you're telling the truth. That's good," Dinah muttered half to herself. "What happened on Omega? Is everyone okay?"

"Miss Alcott, I've specifically learned to tailor my language _not_ to ask you questions. I won't have you exacerbating your condition by asking them yourself, so please, don't do that again."

"But Shepard and the guys…"

"Everyone is just fine," Chakwas assured her kindly. "I'm sure there will be no shortage of people who can fill you in once I've updated Shepard that you are awake, but please, do wait for a few hours before stressing your condition. Give the medication a chance to work."

"My power isn't really useful for anything _else_ these days…" the young girl murmured a little defiantly. "Is Taylor back yet?"

"She was, but I'm not sure if she is still aboard," Chakwas answered dismissively, looking over her data pad.

"Where else would she be? Something _else_ hasn't happened, has it?"

"No, nothing like that," she answered kindly. "Things are actually fairly quiet at the moment. I believe she planned to accompany Ms. Tsoni on Illium for a few days while the Commander sees to an old friend."

"...oh."

"Now, lie still for a moment, please. I'd like to take another scan to verify my findings."

"Okay. Are we still on Illium?"

"Jeff mentioned we were refueling there when he was in here earlier, so I would believe so."

Laying as still as possible, Dinah closed her eyes concentrating on her breathing letting Dr. Chakwas do whatever it was she was doing. After several long moments where the only sounds made were from her data pad, Chakwas spoke again.

"Well, everything is definitely looking much better now. A few days bed rest and I think that will do it. As long as you refrain from using your abilities as much as possible for that duration."

"Not an easy thing for me to do, ma'am."

"Yes, I'm aware. Mr. Baker's notes in your medical file stated as much. However, your condition will improve much faster if you can limit its use."

Smiling weakly, Dinah nodded. "I'll try."

"Good. Now, Let me just get something for the lingering pain."

"Then I can go?"

"No dear," Chakwas said. "Perhaps in a few hours if everything continues to improve you might be well enough to spend a few hours walking around."

"...I see."

Watching the older woman walk away, Dinah eased herself upward before sliding her bare feet to the floor.

"Here we are…" Chakwas mumbled before she was interrupted by the hiss of the hypo spray pressed to her neck.

Still feeling weak and unprepared for the dead weight, Dinah almost dropped her when she collapsed. As it was she was barely able to control their fall making sure neither of them hit their heads on the hard floor.

"I'm sorry," Dinah whispered while climbing back to her feet. "But I've done too much to get to us to this nexus to not see it through."

Leaving the sleeping doctor on the floor, Dinah quickly raided the cabinet in case her power tried to cripple her later, which was highly likely considering her current state. Finished, she pocketed her loot and made for the door making sure to lock it behind her.

"Atlas."

Thankfully the mess was empty at the moment. Next to the door, the holographic avatar appeared somehow looking reproachful, even for a caricature beetle.

"Don't look at me like that," Dinah reprimanded the AI. "You're in this just as deep as I am, _Gamble._ "

"You did not inform me that time was sensitive," Atlas responded, unaffected by Dinah's tone. "Had I known, I would acted accordingly."

"You know how hard I've been trying to see, Atlas. You _know_ how long I've been working on this. Are we still on Illium? Where is Taylor?"

"Matriarch departed the _Normandy_ half an hour ago with Dr. Tsoni," he replied. "We are currently still docked on Illium. Refueling has just completed."

"I need to get on Illium. How much time do I have?"

"I will make sure you have enough time," Atlas flatly answered. "You are aware that based on the last projections you gave me, the odds of success are...not ideal."

"They never were," Dinah grossed, heading to the lift. "Just make sure I get on Illium and no one figures it out until they're long gone. I'll take care of the rest."

"Acknowledged."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

"Name?"

"Elwood Blues," Uber answered in a monotone, loving every minute of this while trying to keep his enthusiasm from breaking character. "This is my brother. Jake Blues."

Standing next to him, Leet nodded once, not even bothering to look at the turian receptionist nor say anything. 'Jake' was too busy scanning the crowd through his raybans and looking cool.

Uber wasn't sure, but he thought the receptionist was a she, but only because of the voice was just slightly less gravely than Garrus. At least, Uber hoped she was a she. For a dinosaur bird reptile alien thing, she was kinda cute, and if she wasn't a she, then his silent musings over the last few minutes were going to be really awkward later.

The tuiran looked at him, and then 'Jake'. Obviously noting their different skin tones, and body mass that shouted they were about as closely related as a glass of water and a bunsen burner.

"What brings you to Aephus, Mr. Blues?" she asked instead of pointing out the obvious.

"Here to see a guy about some mechs and pick up a shuttle," Uber answered.

"You're...engineers?"

"No, ma'am," Uber answered, feeling confident with his earlier conclusion. "We're musicians."

"I see," she grumbled, obviously not seeing the connection. That was fine by Uber, she was turian and half the time he couldn't expect his own species to fully appreciate a classic for what it was. "So, the purpose of your visit?"

"We're on a mission from God."

"Right," she muttered while typing 'medical' into the database.

Uber fought to keep his face blank as he waited for the next question in the process that would get them through customs. Next to him, Leet still looked bored while eyeing up a human brunette in another line, but Uber knew his friend was enjoying this just as much as he was.

Giving the spaceport one more look, he didn't see that sexy as hell asari chick he hooked up with after their last change over. They were supposed to meet up again before they docked. Yet, he didn't see her around. It was shame, she was smokin' hot and damn near as limber as he was, which said something.

Shrugging, Uber returned his attention to the receptionist and her seemingly never ending questions and thinking about the job ahead. With their time crunch, they were going to have to pull off everything here in one go, instead of in stages like he originally planned. But that was fine, more authentic. Like they did it in the old days. More fun.

Finally finished, Uber and Leet walked side by side in step onto the station. One last look didn't reveal that girl anywhere.

 _O-well_ , he thought. Still, who would have thought the Void Club was going to be an actual thing in the future? If nothing else, this trip was already turning out pretty damn epic and bonus points for scratching something off his bucket list, even if he didn't know it should have been on there until it came up.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Stepping off the shuttle, Shepard took a good look around the docking port that served Clan Urdnot. Stacked crates rested here and there appearing to have just been unloaded with little care to organization, two unarmored krogan dressed in worn clothes chased a pyjak to his right, while three very armored and armed krogan walked toward his shore party. The lead figure stopped at the bottom of the ramp, reptilian eyes narrowed and focused over Shepard's right shoulder while the two behind him snarled.

"Love what Wrex's done with the place," Garrus mumbled.

Next to him, Tali snorted. "Have you ever been on Tuchanka before, Garrus?"

"Ah, no. Turians are not exactly welcome here. Speaking of the unwelcome party..."

"Human," the lead krogan barked. "You are required to present yourself before the Clan Chief of Urdnot. Your...pet turian, is not welcome here, and is to remain."

"We're all here to talk to Urdnot Wrex," Shepard said. "That includes Garrus."

Before the brutish figure could comment, someone else did. "Is there a problem?"

Six pairs of eyes turned to the voice to see Mcabee walking toward them. If a turian willingly wanting to talk to a krogan battle master was an oddity, Hebert's teammate was even more so.

Dressed in a set of light -and very complimentary- body armor, she looked more like a runway model at an expo than a soldier despite the sidearm holstered on her hip.

One of the krogan behind the spokesman couldn't help pointing out, "Uh… You've… got some feathers on your… your head. Is this some human custom?"

He was ignored aside from the one next to him blindly hitting him. Straightening up as much as his bulk would allow, the spokesmen stated, "The turian is unwelcome."

"Oh, that's right. Krogans don't like turians," Mcabee muttered.

"To put it mildly," Garrus mumbled before grunting after Tali hit him.

"Surely though you could make an exception for Garrus? I mean, sure, he's kind of a dick…"

Turning slightly to face Mcabee, Garrus raised an eye ridge at the woman. Next to him, Tali turned around completely, though her shaking shoulders told Shepard enough.

"...but he's not that bad really. He's not here to start trouble."

"No."

"If it helps, I'll vouch for him," Mcabee offered. "At least until Wrex decides if he wants Garrus here or not."

Shepard wasn't sure which surprised him more, that Mcabee offered to vouch for Garrus as if it would mean something, or that the krogan spokesmen actually seemed to be considering it.

After several moments where only his thoughtful grumbles broke the silence, he said, "He will leave behind any weapons he has before we allow him into Urdnot."

"Wait a second…" Garrus tried interrupting.

"Sure, that's fine," Mcabee agreed completely ignoring the flustered tuiran.

"I didn't agree to that," the sole turian grumbled, fringe tight against his face as he looked at the yellow haired human.

"Well, it's either this or you have to sit in the shuttle. If you want to see Wrex, then you have to do it their way until Wrex says differently."

"Not reassuring," Garrus grumbled.

"Don't worry, Garrus," Tali said teasingly. "I'll protect you."

"You know, I could always see Wrex the next time we're here."

Unable to keep the smirk off his face, Shepard shook his head before waving to the shuttle. "Just disarm, Garrus. Once we see Wrex you can come back and get your weapons."

"Funny," Garrus mumbled as mulishly. "This from the guy who's threatened to shoot everyone who's ever asked _him_ to disarm."

Not denying it, Shepard chuckled. "There's a difference between dealing with Wrex, and dealing with a corporation."

"They'll both kill you."

"Yeah, but Wrex is more honest about it. If he's going to kill you, he prefers you armed and knowing he's going to do it."

"True," Garrus agreed, seemingly slightly mollified.

Turning his attention away from the trio, the krogan spokesmen asked Mcabee, "Is she coming ashore as well?"

"Not today," Mcabee answered. "Just me, I have business with Ratch. Figured I'd get it out of the way while these three catch up with their friend."

"Very well," the spokesmen grumbled, looking strangely disappointed. "We will wait by the air lock for your turian to disarm. It would not be...wise to keep Clan Chief waiting long."

"Of course," the yellow haired woman said agreeably if not out right cheerfully. Once the krogan started walking away, Shepard heard her comment. "What a nice guy."

Bemused, Shepard watched the woman walk away, presumably to whatever task Hebert assigned her to do.

Probably better not to dwell on either her task, or whatever it was he was missing that seemed to give her street credit with Wrex's troops.

One disarmed turian later, and still unhappy about it, Shepard led his team to their escort. Following them through a series of elevators and rocky tunnels proved two things. Their escort was well used to walking this route, and that he was going to need a map to do the same.

The spokesmen for their escort eventually brought them into a large communal area where he motioned them to wait.

"You will wait to be summoned. The Clan Chief is in, talks."

Looking over the brutes shoulder showed Wrex sitting on a great stone throne that looked more like roughly shaped slabs of rocks than what he figured it was meant to be. In front of him, another krogan, gesturing about as he paced, growling as he made whatever points he was making. Despite being a large open area, and the fact krogan were naturally a loud speaking race, there were just too many of them around for Shepard to clearly hear what was being said.

While not ideal, Shepard nodded. If the look on the old krogan's face was anything to go by, these 'talks' wouldn't last long.

He was proven right only seconds later. Wrex rolled his eyes at whatever the long winded speaker was saying bringing his attention elsewhere. When they landed on Shepard, Wrex immediately straightened up, raising from his makeshift throne.

"Shepard," Wrex boomed.

"Excuse me," Shepard said, moving between the two krogan in front of him.

Likewise, Wrex shoved his kinsmen aside striding toward him.

Grasping his forearm, Wrex smiled. "Shepard! My friend!"

A strong shake that probably would have dislocated his shoulder two years ago, Wrex looked Shepard over with pleased eyes. "You look good for dead, Shepard. I knew the void couldn't hold you."

"Then you're in a very small minority," Shepard said. "The Normandy _was_ destroyed in a surprise attack and I got spaced in a damaged suit."

"Ah, the benefits of a reductant nervous system."

"Yeah, humans don't have that."

"Oh? Must have been hurt like hell then," Wrex chuckled. "And yet here you are now, alive, and in command of a strong new ship. Takes me back to the old days. Us against endless legions, kill them with big guns and explosions. Good times."

"Oh, you mean yesterday?" Shepard asked.

"Now you're talking like a krogan," Wrex smirked. "What's two years to warriors like us, Shepard?"

Chuckling, Shepard shook his head at the old krogan. "Before we get into that, there's a couple of other old friends here to see you too."

"Uncle Wrex," Tali greeted him teasingly, ignoring the look on Wrex's face, and a disgusted grunt from the ignored korgan behind him.

"I told you not to call me that," Wrex groused.

"No, what you said was to never call you that where any one could hear me say it," Tali returned as she gave the uncomfortable krogan a hug. "And I never agreed to those terms."

"Hurmph," Wrex grunted, a slight smile on his wide mouth as he looked the quarian over noting the changes in her suit until his large eyes fell on the well worn casing of the large weapon compacted at the small of her back.

"At least you listened to me about something."

"It was good advice that didn't involve eating someone," she replied. "Besides, it's hard to argue with a cluster of superconducting flechettes and ignited plasma."

"It's a good argument," Wrex said approvingly.

"Indeed."

Grunting his amusement, he turned his slitted yes toward the last of the trio.

"Wrex," Garrus greeted awkwardly.

"Vakarian," Wrex returned.

"So ah… eaten any salarians lately?"

"No. Tried liquified turian though."

Snickering, Shepard couldn't help but ask, if only for the look on Garrus's face. "How was it?"

"Wasn't bad," Wrex answered evenly, his large eyes dancing. "Kinda gamey. Grows on ya, after a while, if ya know what I mean. Convenient too, since the sticks already up their ass. Like one of those, what's it called? Those things Ashley liked in her drinks."

"Paper umbrella?" Shepard answered neutrally.

"That's it."

"I'm flattered," Garrus said dryly before sighing.

"Heh, that's what I always liked about you, Garrus," Wrex said, clasping the surprised turians arm. "You're a turian with a sense of humor."

"Thanks," Garrus said. "But to clarify, you didn't really drink the liquefied remains of one of my people, did you?"

"Not since the last time. Gives me gas," Wrex answered. "Still, it's good to see you again, Garrus."

"You too, Wrex," he returned. "Now, can I put my weapons back where they belong?"

Laughing, Wrex nodded to their guard, "Get the skittish pyjak's weapons, Grall. Garrus is a friend to Urdnot and welcome here."

"As you say, Clan Chief," the disgruntled krogan said, turning around to walk back toward the shuttle.

"Urdnot's rights may be dominant for now, Wrex," the ignored krogan behind them growled menacingly. "Discarding tradition is one thing, but to ignore your own kinsmen for...aliens. A _dangerous_ precedent. As for the turian..."

Casually turning to the speaker, Wrex leaned back. Throwing his considerable weight behind hit, he smashed his brow plate against the others sending the large krogan to the floor.

"Speak when spoken to, Uvenk," Wrex growled harshly to the prone figure. "That turian could probably kill you, even without his weapons. If not, I know the quarian could."

Staying prone, Uvenk looked upward, lip snarling. Wrex scoffed at the disbelief written on his face.

"I was there the day she claimed that shotgun for her own, Uvenk. Watched as she stabbed a Geth Prime to death with just her _knife_.

"As for the human, ha! I'd like to see you try something there. I have personally witnessed him spill more blood than your whole clan has ever drunkenly boasted of. But by all means, if you feel that strongly about their presence, do something about it. I bet it will go as well as the last time there was a challenge on this dias."

"As you say, Clan Chief," Uvenk growled. Standing up, he walked away without sparing those gathered another glance.

"Looks like helping me stop Saren and his geth worked out pretty well for you," Shepard stated. "Though not everyone seems to agree."

"Chained varren," Wrex said, shaking his head. "Always snarling and snapping to no purpose. Krogan like Uvenk are like that."

"Is he going to be a problem?"

"Hardly. I'll drag his clan to glory, with or without him. My allies among other clans like what I'm doing. If Clan Gatatog wishes to oppose me, my allies will destroy them. They're always eager for an outlet."

"Is that a regular thing?" Shepard asked. "Seems counter to your plans to unify your people that we discussed two years ago."

"I won't change who we are. Krogan are judged by the strength of our enemies. Our worst insult is to say someone isn't worth killing. When the smoke clears, I'll plant the flag in their corpses and rally the rest around a new krogan hub," Wrex answered. "It has been slow, but we are making progress. Now Clan Urdnot's bunker is neutral ground. My first allies were the same as when I tried before, except this time, I treated with the female clan leaders as well."

"Your women have their own clans?"

"There is nothing more precious to a krogan, than a fertile female, Shepard. We know it. They know it. Our females banded together to protect themselves from our external enemies and clans who would abuse them. With the rise of Urdnot, they are even more secure. They were the first to see the extent of my vision. I can't make a single decision without clan leader Uta's approval. Now, attacks on Urdnot endanger the females of all clans."

"How's that working out?"

"Better than I hoped, worse than I feared," Wrex answered tiredly. "Clans deal with their own criminals keeping the camp safe, no fighting. We generally stop conflicts before anyone dies. Offenders get a choice. Pay a fine and deal with the problem, or no longer be welcome. My Allies deal with unwelcome clans by utterly destroying them. Word gets around."

"I don't imagine you allow a lot of aliens to do business here, or on Tuchanka in general," Garrus said, looking pointedly across the open area to where Mcabee was talking to a krogan vender. "Can't imagine that helps associating with us, openly. Your people are not, ah, the most diplomatic species in the galaxy."

"Bah. We're not diplomats, we're warriors, but those few with the quad to brave the CDEM to trade here, are welcome."

"That explains why you met with Hebert," Shepard said leadingly. "But not why you helped her. Why did you?"

"Like I said, few aliens are willing to brave this rock," Wrex said. "Less are those willing to treat krogan with respect, and on equal footing. Even before she spoke, she reminded me of you, Shepard. Had that fire in her eyes. Don't see that in many aliens.

"My people have songs from before the war about such things. Tales from before we had to rely on breeding alliances to survive as a species. When krogan mated for life. They're old songs, not well remembered by many, but we have them. Those who know of them understand, you don't stand in the way of a vengeful mate. Especially when it's a female looking to get her male back. Planets have been broken for less."

Behind him, Garrus coughed, turning away. Which did nothing for hiding his amusement at the old krogans remarks. Tali's glowing eyes narrowed behind her visor.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Shepard sighed, "It's not like that, Wrex."

"Oh? Could have fooled me," the old krogan rumbled seemingly amused at Shepard's reaction. "A lot of effort for a non-mate. Even demanded Blood Rights in the old tongue. Funny, thing about that. She made the same mistakes you did when I taught you my language."

"It's...complicated."

"Well, if you say so," Wrex grumbled even as his sharp eyes danced. "But maybe you should think about it. Her last visit here made an impression on some of my people. I've gotten two invitations from female clans since then for her, and one breeding request. Better lock that one down, Shepard, while you can. You've never competed for a mate's affections until you've had to do so against a krogan."

"Oh for the love of…"

Truly enjoying Shepard's discomfort, Wrex slammed his fist down on his shoulder, slightly staggering the ex-Spectre. "Ah-ha! Come on, I'll show you around the camp. It's thanks to you that the rise of Urdnot became possible, Shepard. Before the genophage we were once a proud and fierce nation. Until two years ago, we were nothing more than thugs for hire to the highest bidder. Spending our lives chasing credits. Our roots, forgotten. Let me show you how far we've come to remembering the old ways."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Exposed wires, thick cables, and open panels adorned the room proudly showing it's unfinished state. Three crewmen were scattered around the large room busy checking power levels, connections, and programming for the final checks necessary before trying to power up the tech they'd all had been slaving over for days.

Standing vigil over a terminal, Miranda Lawson was fully aware of each one, their tasks, while taking care of a half dozen others herself. Jacob Taylor assisted, moving from crewmen to crewmen bringing them essentials they needed to keep the work moving steadily forward.

"Perera?"

"Status green, Ma'am," Crewmen Perera immediately responded. "Power levels are steady. Singularity holding."

"Good. Patel?"

"A-Okay, Ma'am."

"Goldstein?"

"One second," she answered, half buried in a wall junction.

"What is the hold up, Crewmen?"

"Just a faulty connection, Ma'am. I think. Should be...there. Mr. Taylor, could you check my screen?"

"Looks good," Jacob answered after a moment.

"Good to go, Ma'am. Try it now."

Typing the connection sequence the room dimmed slightly for a second, then brightened again. Eyes dancing over the readout, Miranda nodded satisfied.

"Excellent. The QEC is now operational again."

Shaking his head, Jacob smiled at the disheveled crewmen around him who'd put in more work in the last two days than he bet they ever had. "Good work, everyone."

"Yes, well done," Miranda congratulated absently while still mostly absorbed in her terminal. "Clear the room."

Ignoring the disbelieving looks around her, Miranda continued as the crewmen left. Shaking his head again, Jacob said, "You could have at least looked at them, Miranda. They got the work done ahead of projections."

"Only because we were here to supervise them," she countered absently. "Otherwise we would still be waiting for the refit to be completed."

"They did a good job."

"I said as much."

"Miranda…"

"Not now, Jacob," she interrupted him. "Secure the room."

"Alright," he sighed, running the detection program on his omni tool to scan for surveillance. After several long moments, he reported, "Rooms clean. No monitoring devices or bugs."

"Even from Hebert's AI's?"

"Should be," Jacob said. "Plans called for an isolated system so Shepard could communicate with key people without a trace. No connections to any other ship's systems aside from power."

"Excellent."

Keying the final sequence, Miranda fully activated the QEC. Unlike the old system which immersed the speaker into a virtual environment to facilitate secrecy, the refit instead generated an image similar to older comms. Just higher resolution.

Across from Miranda, a static blob quickly took shape becoming a familiar figure known to both operatives. A man, sitting in a chair. Cybernetic eyes casually taking them in while he slowly lit a cigarette.

"Miranda. Jacob," he greeted.

"Illusive Man," Miranda returned. Standing next to her, Jacob leaned back, quietly folding his arms across his chest.

"It's good to see you both again. Reports from Omega were...unclear as to your status," The Illusive Man stated neutrally, taking a long draw before exhaling a cloud of smoke.

"Report."

"After our capture on Lazarus Station," Miranda immediately recounted. "Jacob and I were placed into holding cells. There we found other Cerberus personnel also held in captivity. Some were interviewed and assigned stations on ship while others were let off at various ports. We were not, until the attack on New Canton."

"Yes, technicians and specialists from one of our cargo ships and a depot that Matriarch claimed to have hit. We retrieved most of those operatives and they reported much the same. Continue."

"In an effort to ensure we ended up among those staying on the ship, Jacob and I offered our assistance on New Canton."

"I have the report, excellent work there by the way. A shame our operative station there was unable to assist. Did you discover how the colony was taken by surprise so easily?"

"No sir."

"A shame," The Illusive man noted casually. "The data would have been invaluable for predicting future attacks. No matter."

"Did you receive the dispatch I left with our agent on Omega?"

"I did."

Miranda nodded. "Since then Jacob and I have been helping with various refits to the SR-2. Shepard is now on Tuchanka. Various other operatives, including most of the mercenary cell that instigated our current situation are scattered. Presumably attending to projects for Shepard. However, I do not have access to the specifics."

"Understandable. Matriarch has shown a severe lack of trust in Cerberus. Nonetheless, good work, Miranda. How is Shepard?"

"From observation only, I would say he is well within our expectations," Miranda reported. "I would go so far as to say he even exceeds expectations based on his profile. Dr. Chakwas is on board and performed a full medical diagnostics after he woke, but again, I do not have access to those files."

"Excellent. It would seem that Project Lazarus was a complete success then."

"I wouldn't go that far, sir."

Ignoring his frustrated lieutenant, The Illusive Man turned his attention to the stoic man beside her. "You've been quiet, Jacob. Thoughts?"

"Not really."

"As informative as ever, Jacob."

Rolling his eyes, Jacob shrugged. "Unlike Miranda, I don't see what the big deal is."

"These mercenaries ruined over two years of plans and efforts. Worse, they are unpredictable and dangerous," Miranda reminded him. "They sanitized everyone on Lazarus Station, Jacob."

"From what I was told, that was a third party action. Look, I don't like what happened on the station, but these mercs have turned everything over to Shepard and are helping him. Does it really matter who's banner we're flying under? Shepard's calling the shots now. Isn't that what we spent two years bringing him back for?"

"We brought him back so he could help Cerberus defeat the Collectors. Right now we're flying blind without direction."

"I agree," The Illusive man said, taking a long drink from his glass before setting it aside. "...with Jacob."

"Sir?" Miranda asked surprised.

"The lead goal of Project Lazarus was always to bring back Shepard exactly as he was," the enigmatic man stated. "Convincing Shepard to ally with Cerberus was always going to be an uphill effort, Miranda. Especially considering his unfortunate involvement in our operations before his fall.

"However, plans for this stage of the operation never called for Shepard to be one of us. Only to be in play, leading the fight against the Collectors, and by extension, the Reapers."

Pausing to light another cigarette, The Illusive Man gave them a moment to absorb his points.

"Shepard is a pragmatist," He continued, speaking through a cloud of smoke. "In time, he will see the value of allying with Cerberus. Our past actions are meaningless in scope compared to our common enemy. If anything, technologies Cerberus operations have proven and developed are likely to be quite valuable to him. Once he comes to accept the truth of our situation.

"Until then, Shepard will do what he was always meant to do, spearhead the fight. In many ways, Matriarch's involvement has facilitated this effort far beyond what we originally hoped to achieve by this point with Shepard alone."

"Sir? That woman has single handedly derailed everything we spent years building! Crippled the mission with her efforts to dissuade Shepard from Cerberus not to mention the damage she has done to our facilities and personnel."

"How's that any different than us?" Jacob asked dryly.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm just saying, how is what they've done any different than Cerberus?" He clarified. "I might not have been involved in the labs like you were, Miranda, but I know for a fact that our equipment wasn't acquired through legal channels, much less bought. We had agents stealing tech from every nation in the galaxy, from the Alliance to the Asari Republics, for Project Lazarus. The way I see it, the only difference is that instead of us taking from others, we're the one's who got hit for the 'greater good'."

"That is an oversimplification of the situation and you know it, Jacob," Miranda returned.

"Again, I have to agree with Jacob," The Illusive Man interrupted. "While inconvenient to us personally, Matriarch's people were using tactics no different than we have in the past, and for similar goals. That is not something I can fault her for. On the contrary, I commend her initiative. So few believe in the coming threat to humanity that is, in essence, the Reapers. Even less are those willing to get dirty to do something about it. Matriarch has proven she has the mettle to do both."

"Very well, Sir," Miranda said, not quite, clenching her teeth. "What are your orders?"

Choosing to ignore her frustration, The Illusive Man answered casually, "Continue as you have. Integrate with Shepard's crew and above all, proceed with the mission. Assist in any way possible including co-opting Oscar Level Operations and under when and where you feel necessary."

"Yes sir," both operatives chorused.

"Now that we have reestablished secure communications, I will be in touch," he continued. "After New Canton I placed operatives close enough to observe the Omega 4 relay without being detected. So far the Collector ship has not returned so it is safe to assume that whatever damage was done was minimal, or being repaired off known spaceways."

"It _was_ hit pretty hard, sir," Jacob contributed. "No way they didn't feel those Phoenix guns."

"So can be inferred by the reports I received. In any event, when I find something, the _Normandy_ will be the first to know. Until then, remind Shepard that Cerberus is at his disposal. As is what information we have on the enemy. I will see intel and resources directed your way as soon as they become available, regardless."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

"Two-fifty."

Raising an eyebrow at the price, I shook my head, moving away from the vendor who obviously though a lot of his wares. That, or the salarian just assumed that human meant stupid. There was no way I was going to pay two-fifty for that necklace. Even if the picture on his kiosk was pretty.

Instead, I moved to the next vendor down the line of the market place I was currently prowling. Liara was still dealing with one of her informants, so I had plenty of time to kill before she got back.

Her network here was very impressive. Liara had agents seemingly in every open market center in Nos Astra, and in the last few hours, we'd been to a lot of them. Not wanting to disrupt her activities, I spent most of my time walking the market themselves. Going through kiosks, checking out available tech for sale and occasionally getting those we couldn't get through other means. Blueprints for armor, weapons, mods, and even a few updated star charts I was pretty sure we didn't have yet.

Funny enough, spending the day doing such reminded me of a comment Sebastian made the first time we visited the Boardwalk together. There did seem to be a lot of weapon and tech dealers here, and I'd yet to walk a market that didn't have at least one of each.

Maybe it was an asari thing, but somehow, I wasn't sure. It did explain a hell of a lot about Sebastian though.

In between that, I looked through some of the other less, business related kiosks. Partly to see what was there, but also keeping an eye out for something special for our resident toddler. His birthday wasn't far off and no telling what -or where- we would be when it arrived.

Which did nothing for that niggling feeling in the back of my mind that I was being watched.

Casually looking around as I made my way, I once again took in everything. Several elcor were lumbering carefully along, a few salarians going about their day, and many others but mostly asair of varying ages populated the area. None of them looking my way, or even appeared to be following me. Which did nothing for the feeling that someone, or something, was.

It felt like whispers in a dark alley. Something that made no sense, because you couldn't _feel_ whispers, but it was the only thing that seemed right when I focused on it. Worse, every time I did, the feeling vanished as if it knew I was listening.

Even more frustrating, I couldn't use my bugs here to track people. Ever since Omega my power had been acting strangely. Requiring more concentration to set up than it used to. That alone wasn't much of an issue I couldn't work with, but a stickler I couldn't was that I had limited stock to draw from. Mostly because any bugs moving around here would be really out of the ordinary in the pristine asari architecture around me. Also I was something like, two hundred floors above where bugs naturally congregated. So, there was also that against me.

Shaking my head I tried -and failed- to get my mind off of all that and back to what I was doing. At least that krogan had finally stopped reciting poetry.

"Excuse me."

I looked up from the kiosk I was accessing. In front of me was an older asari. Her face marred, patches of skin looking rough scrubbed or sandpapered pink instead of the blueish tones more commonly associated with her species.

"Can I help you?" I asked cautiously.

"I have been looking for you for some time," she said, smiling knowingly in a way that raised the hairs on the back of my neck. "My name is Elkita and I am honored to finally meet you."

"I think you have me mistaken with someone else…"

"No, I haven't," she interrupted me. "The...evidence is unmistakable. You are whom I was sent to find."

"Sent? Sent by, whom?"

"My...employer, you could say."

"That's not vague."

"Not from malice, but necessity."

"And now that you've found me?"

"She wishes to met you," the strange woman answered. "I have a ship docked nearby that will facilitate transit to her location."

"You expect me to go with you, probably off planet, alone, to meet your mysterious employer with nothing more to go on than she want's to see me?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Yes."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," I muttered. "Not without a lot of violence."

"We mean you no harm."

"I've heard that before," I scoffed.

"There are very good reasons why I cannot give you the information you seek. What must I do to convince you of the truth of my words?"

"There's nothing you can say that is going to get me to go with you," I answered firmly, readying myself for her to take this to the next level.

"Please, you must…"

Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by a staggering figure moving drunkenly through the crowd. Various patrons moved away, which did more for adding to the confusion as the figure didn't seem to have any idea what a straight path was.

It wasn't until the tan skinned salarian jumped out of the way and the figure staggered toward me that I recognized her.

"Dinah!"

I reached her just as her balance failed her. People around us pulled away watching as I slowly lowered the disoriented thinker to the floor.

"Taylor," Dinah mumbled, head rolling back and forth as she tried to focus. "There you are. Oh my God this place is _sooo_ huge…"

She was sweating as if fevered, skin paler than her usual but the most telling thing was her eyes. Her eyes were bloodshot with pupils dilated practically to pinpricks.

"Dinah, are you... _high_?"

"Probably," Dinah giggled painfully. "I took a whole syringe. I think...I think I shouldn't have done that but it hurt _so_ much..."

"Fuck me," I cursed, trying to get a grip on the squirming teen.

"Let me help…"

Before the looming asari could do more than reach, I pulled my sidearm and pointed it at her. The strange woman froze in place, raising her hands showing she was unarmed.

"I merely wished to assist."

"Back off."

Elkita nodded slowly as she complied. The sudden appearance of a weapon encouraged the gawkers to cease watching, and tend to business elsewhere. Those few who didn't immediately walk away, did so when I looked at them.

"Taylor," Dinah whispered placing her hand on my arm. Eyes even more dilated while looking right at Elkita as she continued. "Eighty six…"

"The last thing you should be doing is stressing your power, Dinah," I half scolded. "I checked on you before I left the _Normandy_ and you were still unconscious! Whatever the hell you think is going on can wait until I get you back to Liara's place. Chakwas is going to be so pissed..."

"No," Dinah shouted. "Listen to me! You have to go with her."

"What?"

"You have to. You have to go with her. Right now," Dinah whispered, hand tightening on my shirt as she pulled me closer to her shaking body.

"Dinah, you can't expect me to just leave Illium with a complete stranger like that," I said. "Nothing good ever comes from situations like this, and you know that better than anyone."

"Nothing good will come from you staying here!"

"What the hell, Dinah," I asked, shaking my head. "You're not making any sense. What am I supposed to tell Liara..."

"Nothing! You _can't_ tell Liara you're going."

Frowning deeply, I asked not liking the feeling the precogs words were creating inside me. "Dinah, what is going on?"

"I've never asked you for anything before, Taylor," Dinah whispered desperately. "But I'm asking now. Trust me. Just this once and I'll never ask you again. Trust me and do this."

"Dinah…"

"Please!"

Looking into her pleading eyes, I couldn't help say, "...alright."

Relief spread across the Dinah's face. Look at Elkita showed she was as confused as I was, though looking relieved the young cape convinced me to go along with this madness.

Still…

"If you try anything, I will destroy you," I warned.

"I understand," Elkita said unphased by my growl. "I merely wish to facilitate the meeting between you and my, employer."

"How long to get to this mysterious employer?"

"At least a day's transit."

 _Fuck,_ I cursed internally. This was going to cause so many problems when Liara discovered I skipped town.

"Dinah…"

"It has to be this way," she immediately answered the unasked question. "The numbers...I can't say anymore. It has to be this way."

"Fine," I sighed. "If we're doing this, then let's get it done."


	36. The Call 10

**The Call 5.10**

"How long until we get to wherever you're taking us?" I asked.

Turning from the screen in front of her, Elkita looked to the appropriate interface. "We will arrive at our destination within the hour."

"An hour to reach orbit, or planetside?"

"Yes."

Sighing, I nodded. Should have seen that one coming. At best, Elkita's people skills weren't much better than mine, which was kinda sad considering she had to have at least four centuries on me. Even if you added Sebastian's age to mine.

It had been a long -quiet- trip.

"And then we'll meet your employer?"

"There is a slight distance to travel on foot, but once we do so, yes. She is very interested in meeting you."

"I bet," I muttered under my breath. "I'm going to check on Dinah."

"Of course," Elkita said softly. "I do hope her condition has improved."

The cocktail Dinah had given herself wasn't something I recognized, which meant it was likely a Chakwas Special, unless she bought something on Illium which just furthered the range of what it could be. I didn't have a lot of faith that traditional detox chems would do much. Not to mention, depending on how hard she'd been pushing her power, it might be better if not all of it was purged from her system anyway. I'd never seen her this far gone before, but I'd seen Lisa push herself to an extreme once or twice during our time working together and it never ended well for her.

Instead of replying, I exited the co-pilot's seat of Elkita's ship to make my way to where Dinah was resting.

Thanks to Sebastian, I probably knew more about various types of spacecraft than most. Including the model of Elkita's ship. A zara class cargo hauler of volus design that was state of the art about twenty years ago. Not traditionally a very fast vessel, but you could redline these older model Kran eezo cores for weeks without worries if you knew what you were doing. A popular choice for a trader willing to invest a few credits for an upgraded FTL drive to do business. Even more so for a smuggler who had a lot of credits to invest to get all the trimmings needed to meet deadlines, as seemed to be the case with Elkita.

The _Normandy_ could make the relay from Illium in about an hour, orbital traffic depending. That was pretty damn good by current standards. Elkita's ship made it in half that. Something very much out of the ordinary for Kran core, even one with a Smugglers Package. Whatever Elkita was running, was way beyond any modification Sebastian had seen before.

In addition to that other upgrades seemed to jump out at me as I made my way aft. Zara's usually run with a crew between two to six, but one _could_ do it with the right upgrades and if they knew their stuff. Making my way toward the infirmary, I noticed that not very long ago, this ship was fully staffed. Bunks still had nameplates embossed over their hatches, and everywhere were clear signs that ship wide upgrades had been done recently. Old tech replaced with shiny modern versions to allow one person to crew solo.

Walking the empty hallway, I could almost hear the ghosts of the old crew. Incandescent murmurs at the edge of my consciousness, seemingly as imprinted in the old metal like the paint partially obscured by new tech. Hallmarks of a past remembered by only one, Elkita.

It explained a lot about the strange woman I'd been sharing this bizarre side trip with. Unfortunately, the picture it painted hit a lot closer to home to me personally than I was really comfortable with. For many reasons. None of which I had any desire to think about. Thankfully, it wasn't a long trip to the infirmary.

At a quarter of the size of the Normany's sickbay it didn't offer much. Dinah lay on the only bed in the room. Still sweating ferverishly and half out of it, mumbling to herself to whatever it was only she could see.

She'd been like this ever since she regained consciousness a few hours ago.

"What the hell, Dinah," I whispered, taking the seat next to her.

I suppose it was only a matter of time. All of us had done something similar with our own powers. Pushed them, pushed ourselves to the edge to achieve means. Yet even after thinking about this whole scenario, I couldn't see whatever it was that drove Dinah to this.

I still didn't have any answers by the time Elkita entered the room greeting me by saying, "We're here."

"Okay."

"She is still unwell."

"Yeah," I sighed, getting up to cross the room.

"I'm sorry," Elkita said, stepping clear of the doorway, back into the hall. "I'm sure she will recover in time. If it helps, I've seen a wide range of bad reactions to various narcotics before and the detox treatment has never failed to stabilize the patient, even if their recovery took some time afterward."

Ignoring the platitude I asked, "No one's boarding while we're ashore, right?"

"No."

"Alright, let's get this done so I can get Dinah back to my ship."

"Very well," Elkita nodded, walking away.

Giving one last look into the infirmary, I shook my head at the young cape hoping that this meeting didn't take long.

Following along for the short trip, we soon started down the loading ramp giving me my first look of our destination.

' _alertness'_

"Why is it no one ever takes me to nice places?" I muttered, taking in the sun scorched sand that seemed to extend from horizon to horizon with my eyes as I tried to ignore the heat that seemed to be a stable of such environments.

And only my eyes, unfortunately. While my power's been a little weird ever since New Canton, I hadn't noticed any changes or quirks to my range. Even if my powers range wasn't something I could actually sense. Not without bugs flowing into, or out of, the edge. That part has been as static has it had always been since my powers stabilized years ago.

Concentrating for a moment, I thought I might have felt something, but whatever it was must have been my imagination since there was obviously nothing to grab a hold of.

"Where are we?"

"This planet is called Ekram," Elkita answered.

"Doesn't seem like the kind of place an affluent patron would vacation and we're pretty far off normal trade routes," I said. "Why is your employer here, of all places?"

"That is not for me to speculate. This way, please."

The sole exception to the endless desert, was to our left. A jagged spike of solid rock that was probably this planet's version of a mountain. A sad, broken mountain, but still the only exception to the sand covered expanse. Elkita walked confidently toward it.

' _puzzlement'_

Following revealed her heading for a cave entrance that was partially obscured by sand that had piled up around it. Clear signs that it had recently been cleared away to allow entrance.

Unperturbed, Elkita confidently walked through the entrance as if she knew exactly where she was going.

' _Great. Alone with a strange stoic asari, on a desert world devoid of bugs, without armor or weapons, walking into a dark cave. Best idea, ever. Of all time.'_ I mentally groused.

It was only Dinah's push to do this thing that had me reluctantly follow Elkita. However, with every step forward, I seriously considered activating my omni tool despite Dinah's plea I deactivate it. Not because I was slightly claustrophobic, though that wasn't helping, but because every instinct I had was screaming at me that nothing good was going to come from any of this. That feeling became almost too much to ignore when I stepped into the cave, swallowed by its darkness with only Elkita's omni tool flashlight to push it back.

' _curiosity'_

Inside the cave felt like standing in a freezer after the heat of Ekram's sun. Worse, it was quiet. Not the quiet of stillness, but one that raised the hairs on the back of your neck. It was the kind of silence that made you think every shadow around you was watching, holding it's breath. Waiting for you to turn your back on them so they could move. The impatient ones moving within your peripheral vision but never so obviously that you could _see_ it.

The deeper we traveled, the worse my skin crawled. Our footsteps on stone, occasionally kicking a small pebble rivaling the sound of our breathing for the only sounds. Yet, I could have sworn I heard something else in here. Elkita only blinked in surprise when I mentioned it. Saying she didn't hear anything. Which didn't do anything for dissuading me from thinking that I _could_.

' _interest'_

At first, it sounded like murmurs. Soft, almost undetectable, and bizarrely enough, soundless. The deeper we went, my thoughts changed from murmurs, to melody's. Still soft, brushing the edges of my consciousness and still frustratingly enough, not something I could definitely say I was actually hearing instead of imagining. Every time I focused, it vanished like smoke in the wind.

Despite my inner thoughts, and overactive paranoia, our walk through the creepy cavern didn't take long. A half hour after we entered the cave we exited into a large open chamber. It was massive, too wide for Elkita's omni tool to highlight the sides or back.

' _sympathy'_

Eyes narrowed, I sent four asrids flying into the cavern. The krogan wasps burst from my hair, going where I directed startling Elkita. While the darkness around us would have easily hidden their forms, nothing could hide the unique sound of the insect wings driving them.

"What was that?" she asked wearily.

' _little ones!'_

Ignoring her, I kept my focus on my bugs. They moved in straight lines as fast as they could. With each foot passed, I felt slightly more grounded as my awareness spread outward, despite my appreciation of just how vast this underground chamber was.

I sent a few more scouts once I reached the rock wall to either side. Elkita sighed, probably realizing I wasn't going to answer her question.

My bugs weren't finding anything but my gut told me without a doubt that something was here. Many somethings.

"Where have you brought me, Dinah?" I murmured.

Next to me, Elkita's attention turned forward, staring into the blackness ahead of us as if she could see something. Redirecting two bugs that direction caused my spine to straighten as every muscle in my body seemed to lock into place.

"Please, don't be alarmed. My… employer is not of the usual… uhm. Not one of the council races."

"I'd gathered," I replied, trying to fathom the sounds that kept echoing just outside of comprehensibility. Like… like words in a language that I used to know.

Then, _something_ , moved.

It was big. The asrid that landed on it gave me the impression of chitin. But… massive. In a way that shouldn't be possible, at least, not with what I knew of _Earth's_ biology.

Then again, I was a _long_ way from Earth.

Elkita walked forward several feet ahead of me heading toward the form just as I felt it shift and move toward me. Whatever it was didn't seem to mind the hitchhiker I placed on it as it approached.

Elkita turned around, facing me. In the limited light of her omni tool I watched her eyes roll back into her head, exposing only white on a face as blank as the stone around me.

Twin voices spoke at once. The first, obviously Elkita. The second was harder to place and unlike the asari in front of me, didn't echo within the chamber. "We greet you, Defiance Singer. I am Hope Singer. Eldest Queen of the Rachni."

The darkness shrouded the massive creature but every now and then small blue lights gleamed giving vague hints at its frame as it approached until it's head appeared. It entered the illuminated area around Elkita halfway toward the ceiling. An insect like head, three glowing eyes surrounding a much larger one, resting on either side looking right at me. Behind it I could see some of it's torso, but not enough to fully take in the monstrous insect that had to be half the size of a whale.

Every expectation I had about who or what might have been Elkita's mysterious employer, blown right out of the water as an involuntary shudder ran down my spine. The twin voices was a little creepy, even if the words themselves were about as unhostile as they could get, considering.

"Holy shit," I whispered. "I know you…"

"We heard your song of rage when you fought the dark song destroyer," they chorused. "Pain and defiance entwined tightly around each note. We thought somehow Sings of Endings was calling to us, but while his melody sings with others within you, you are not Sings of Endings."

' _Dark Song Destroyer. My fight with Harbinger, and Sings of…_ Endings?' I thought fast before mentally facepalming. ' _Shepard. She has to be talking about Shepard..._

"How…" I started to ask any of the half dozen questions flooding my mind. After a moment of gathering myself I asked, "What do you mean, 'you heard me'?"

"We heard you," Hope Singer answered, as if that explained everything while nodding her massive head. "We heard the terrible notes of the Dark Song Destroyers. Your counterpoint of defiance. The battle thrumming of Sings of Endings. Noise, chaos, many melodies, a medley with many bridges screaming in crescendo. And then... the silence."

"How," I stressed. "I was on New Canton. There's no way…"

"We do not know," the rachni queen answered confused. Head tilted slightly it continued. "We are… puzzled by you. You sing as we sing, but do not. Your songs heard only by the songless."

"You, can hear my power?" I breathed knowing I was right. It was the only explanation that made sense. It definitely explained the twin voices thing. Somehow, I was hearing her with my ears _and_ power.

Hope Singer nodded. "We hear your songs. You sing, but you do not. Colorless notes singing 'obey me obey me'. Teaching songs, battle songs, building songs. _Your_ melody is beautiful, but confused by the melodies of others. Sad, and so soft. Notes, only a songless would ever heed. Why? Why do you sing only to those who do not have songs of their own?"

"I… think you're getting the wrong impression. I'm obviously not rachni…"

"You sing," she replied, in a way that implied that was quite literally all I needed.

"That's my power. That's what it does," I tried explaining lamely. "It's...hard to explain, but I don't have a lot of control over how it works. I just...use it and it's only ever worked on things with simple brains, like normal bugs."

Hope Singer stood quietly as I let out a frustrated breath. What did she want me to say? I obviously _didn't_ sing as she understood it. That wasn't how my power worked. But then, Hope Singer obviously thought it could.

"I… never learned how. I can't, I've never sang like you do. My power just doesn't work that way."

A sort of tittering that resembled a gasp swept through the massive chamber telling me that more than Hope Singer was watching, and listening. The towering queen looked around giving the impression of disapproval which quickly silenced the onlookers.

It might even be intriguing, learning to talk to bigger bugs, but I got the distinct impression that controlling them wasn't going to happen. I couldn't even feel them without smaller bugs sitting on their carapaces. While interesting, this situation was seemingly useless. This was a waste of time.

 _So why had Dinah insisted that it was so important?_

"I'm sorry. I can't sing as you do. I don't think I can," I said, trying to shake off the weirdness of talking to a giant bug that could hear, but was not affected by my power, I asked, "Alright, let's say I believe that you somehow heard...my fight with Harbinger from New Canton. That doesn't explain why you sent Elkita to find me. You just wanted to meet the strange human who could 'sing'?"

' _We… Sympathize.'_

Somehow I didn't think the queen meant that in the usual, pity, sort of way. Sympathize. It had weight to it that didn't make sense to me.

"Excuse me?"

"We sympathize. Once, rachni were chained by the dark song destroyers. Their sour yellow notes screaming, drowning our songs to silence trying to force the rachni to sing songs of destruction instead of the songs of our queen mothers. So too are you drowning… though not drowned yet."

"Are you trying to say I'm _indoctrinated_?" I asked shakingly.

"Wise to fear. But do not sing notes of dread for this measure. We do not hear their sour notes coloring yours."

The sudden tension bled out just as fast as it had overtaken me. If somehow Harbinger _had_ indoctrinated me…I couldn't go through that again.

I wouldn't.

"You have not been lost to the Dark Song Destroyers," Hope Singer's calming and strangely compassionate voices assured me. "But we hear melodies within yours. A bitter requiem in dissonance. It lingers within you like a misplaced chord to color your song with it's message of obedience. Striking as a metronome and ruining your sound. Songs of conflict. Sings of Endings broken harmony thundering within you but without purpose, replaced by this… we do not know it's note, but it rings... _wrong_."

My breath seized within my chest. Ice water suddenly replaced the blood flowing through my veins. I could barely follow the strange way Hope Singer spoke, but I understood enough to not like where this conversation had suddenly turned.

"You do not seem surprised," Hope Singer observed.

"I was...mastered once," I said quietly, turning away from the duo in front of me. I looked instead into the darkness.

"We do not understand your word, but we believe we understand your meaning," Hope Singer said. "The dissonance."

"What do you mean you…" I started to say before rephrasing my question deciding on a different direction to move this. "Can you really hear the memories Sebastian gave me?"

 _And the love Nikos forced on me?_

"Sings of Endings Melody lies with yours, yes. It is broken, but unmistakeable. A strong drum, keeping tempo. It's melody faint, but pushing against the others. It's struggle as indomitable and unyielding as one of our brood warriors defending a nest. The note is not sour, but still... Like an imperfect echo. It chains your own as much as it fights."

 _What did that mean?_

"We do not understand how you came to be bound by these other songs, and still sing so strongly with one of your own, but a queen should not be chained. No song should be chained by another. Not even by Sings of Endings."

Looking away from the queens head, I instead focused on Elkita. Still standing before me, unnaturally still, eyes still white and rolled back. The quiet woman I'd traveled here with seemingly nothing more than a mouthpiece to the massive bug behind her.

"You say no song should be chained, but what about Elkita?" I asked wearily.

As quickly as I asked, Elkita's eyes returned to normal. "I am willing."

"Ah-huh," I snarked before deadpanning, "You looked willing."

"I am," Elkita said, ignoring my tone. "To the people of the galaxy, the Rachni are a vicious, evil threat that once tried to destroy all. What the people do not know, is that none of those Rachni were free. None. Husks puppeted by the Reapers until they found a way to resist. To break free."

Something tickled at the back of my mind. As much as I didn't want to believe it, Elkita's words felt right. It matched enough to some of Sebastian's memories I could remember that I didn't contradict the older asari.

"So you let her puppet _you_?" I asked.

"While it may appear that way, she is not controlling me," Elkita answered. "I am very much still my own person. Even while Hope Singer's mind is touching mine. She merely uses my voice. There are few ways for her to easily communicate with other races of the galaxy since most lack the ability to hear her themselves. Human, if the queen says you can hear their songs, than you are _blessed_ by the goddess beyond measure."

I almost snorted, but held back. While Elkita looked like she meant every word she said, she had no idea what having my power had cost me.

"You had Elkita bring me here for a reason and I doubt it was just to tell me I'm crazy," I said. Swallowing dryly, I forced myself to whisper, "why?"

Unlike before, Elkita didn't speak with Hope Singer when she answered. The sole voice heard with only my power sounding both strange, and right, in the still silence of the cave. "Sings of Endings."

"Shepard," I clarified.

"Yes. On the frozen planet, he stopped our stolen young who never learned to sing and only knew the broken war songs of the needle men. Sings of Endings could have permanently silenced our song, never to be heard again outside the songs of memory. Instead he gave us the chance to compose anew."

The massive bug turned away, looking around her into the wall of blackness around us. "We have. We have sung to our children of his forgiveness. Of his mercy. Rich songs so that none who come after will ever forget what the rachni owe him. Though his music is that of endings to many, his song was one of renewal for us."

Hope Singer turned again, this time focusing her full attention on me as she continued. "I started a new home. My daughters are young, but strong. Their melodies vibrant as they sing to children of their own. Beautiful Harmony. There we sang teaching songs. We listened to the songs our children composed. A still silence now filled with so many songs. Until we heard tones we have not heard since we were an egg. When the songs of my mother was silenced. A song of oily shadow…"

She trailed off to silence for a moment. In the shadows around us, I could hear a shuffling I couldn't identify or place, but had a good idea it was probably more rachni. Uncomfortable with the mood of their queen.

"It reminded us of the gift Sings of Endings gave to the rachni. We left our new home to seek Sings of Endings. To return the gift he'd given us to others. However, others in the great void between stars remember the broken war song's our mothers were forced to sing. We stayed hidden as we searched, helping the strange songs of others but afraid to reveal ourselves and bring the wrath of those who can not hear our songs upon us.

"Then, we heard you," Hope singer continued, focusing on me. "We remembered Sings of Endings kindness. A kindness that rang counter to his own music, but sang freely. We came to answer the call."

"How?" I asked tentatively. While the idea of helpful giant biotic bugs wanting to help against the Reapers was about the best possible outcome I could hope for ever since I walked into this cave, I had a feeling that I was missing something, and whatever that was, was something I wasn't going to like.

"You aid Sings of Endings," Hope Singer stated surely. "But your song is confused, broken and stifled. Chained and tinged by the oily shadows of others. We hear the song of Sings of Endings within you. It sings teaching songs but the music is muffled. We would sing harmony with you. Teach you to hear. Free your song."

"No...that isn't possible," I whispered, backing several steps away from the figures before me.

"Can you truly not see the truth?" Elkita asked. "There is no discord… if you would just _listen,_ Defiant Singer, then you could hear and know…"

"No," I shouted back, body shaking as I clenched my fists. Visually every bit of the name they'd given me.

Seemingly unphased by my out burst, Elkita nodded solemnly. "You are afraid. Afraid to trust..."

"Still your song, Sings Regret," Hope Singer said commandingly instantly silencing the asari.

I laughed bitterly, "I thought you weren't affected by the queen?"

"Her songs were foreign to us," Hope Singer said slowly, a tinge of sadness in her strange voice. Elkita simply stood silent. "Singing in colors and ways we are still trying to understand. When we found her, she was... different. Broken in ways that we have no name for. We sang to her hoping to help her, as Sings of Endings helped us. To heal that which was broken. We succeeded, but her melody was changed when we plucked the thought strings of her song."

"And you expect I'm going to let you do that to _me_?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"You sing," the enormous insect answered. "You too have colors we have no name for but you sing as we sing, even if you give songs only to the songless. You are not rachni, but we would sing harmony with you. You would not change as Sings Regret had."

"Bullshit."

Intellectually, I fully understood what I was refusing. Access to the memories Sebastian left me. Knowledge of all that was coming. How he beat the Reapers. How to stop him from being sent to Earth Bet. Possibly even other stuff like tech that only Sebastian knew or even allies that we hadn't met yet but could be useful later. Things that would be incredibly useful in a myriad of ways that even I couldn't see yet.

But more importantly, if I understood her right, Hope Singer was offering probably the only sure way I would ever have, short of death, to get Nikos out of my head. While killing the bastard and the years since had dulled his power over me it was still always there. Catching me at odd moments, always reminding me that no matter what I did, no matter how much time passed or how far I ran from Earth Bet and all that I survived there, he was always going to be in my mind. That part of me would always…

There was almost nothing I wouldn't give or do to end that part of me. To finally end the nightmare. But this... this was trading one master for another. A dead one, for a living one. A master I was almost positive I wouldn't be able to kill as I had the former, and whose plans for me could be as alien as her appearance.

Standing in the silent cavern, I shook in impotent rage. Anger at the rachni queen for dangling something like that in front of me and being unable to grasp it. Anger for ignoring my instincts and coming here in the first place. For being unable to kill the creature in front of me for even suggesting what she had.

But worse, was the feeling of betrayal at the one and only person who could have engineered this whole thing in the first place. Dinah. She knew this was going to happen. Somehow, somehow she saw this. Manipulated events even to steer us here. How could she do this to me? _Why?_ Dinah had to have known what this was going to do to... me…

Unless…

As quickly as my anger enveloped me, it left, leaving me on shaking legs. I'd always been leery about Dinah's power. Powers did strange things to people. Something I didn't notice for a long time, but had after I'd retired from the cape life. Powers changed all of us, and not just in the obvious ways.

Powerful thinker's like Lisa and Dinah had it the worst outside of Case 53's. If the data they were using for their powers was wrong, or skewed slightly, certainties could quickly spiral off into strange territory. That was partly why I always cautioned the gang not to rely on Dinah's percentages, even when the numbers were high. But that wasn't the main reason.

The main reason was that there was always a part of me that was worried about the exact thing I was dealing with at this moment. That she would see something and feel compelled to chase it down. If it was big enough, scary enough, or bad enough, she would, thinking she had to. In the end, all of us did in our own ways and that was bad enough without having to contend with future sight.

There was now no doubt in my mind that Dinah knew about Hope Singer. She knew and made sure that I not only came here, but came here exactly as I had. Absent of all my accustomed armaments and options.

Things clicked into place. Like finding that one piece of a puzzle that you didn't know you needed but eluded you. That singular piece without which nothing within the fragmented image made since. Yet once in place you could see so much more than you could before.

There was only one reason Dinah would do this to me. Only one reason she would play me with a thinker's trope.

There was little I wouldn't do to protect myself and over the years I'd done some pretty insane things to get the job done, but there were lines I wouldn't allow myself to cross, no matter what. It was something Sebastian had taught me, and something reinforced when he left me his memories. I could live with being the monster people needed, but I wouldn't, couldn't, allow myself to just be the monster.

But there wasn't _anything_ I wouldn't do for my friends. No sacrifice was too big for the only family I had left. Step out an airlock without a suit, throw myself in front of live fire without any protection, it was all the same. I would kill for any of them and I would just as easily die for each of them.

They knew it, I knew it and most importantly, Dinah knew it. If she saw something, if this was the only way to protect them...

My realization cut what little strength my legs still had and sent me downward. Barely able to catch myself from crashing head first into the ground, I breathed harshly, eyes closed as I tried to compose myself.

When I could finally look up, Hope Singer was in front of me. Her large bulk laying on the ground, her massive head only feet from me. Elkita standing far enough away I doubted she could hear me but close enough that we were still inside the light generated by her omni tool.

"You don't understand what you're asking of me," I whispered.

"Such colors. So many burning reds and void blacks," Hope singer's voice muttered quietly. Somehow I could feel the sympathy radiating from her as the massive rachni stared steadily at me.

"I can't," I started to say, choking on my own words.

"What if you're wrong?" I asked desperately, trying to grasp onto anything that would refute the conclusion I'd reached.

"Your melody is a dirge, a tainted requiem that is not solely your own," Hope Singer answered. "A tempest of sadness and rage, filling us all with your grief and longing. Your harmony could be beautiful, if not for the stains marring your music."

"If you're wrong," I asked fearfully. Eyes darting to Elkita before returning to the queen laying in front of me.

The implication was not missed by the alien creature who merely sat quietly, patiently waiting for me to make my choice.

Everything within me was screaming against this. That letting the alien creature into my head wasn't going to fix anything. That Hope Singer wasn't to be trusted, had no intention of helping me, but was only interested in acquiring me like she had Elkita. Like every other master I ever heard of, bar Paige.

Even if she wasn't lying, I was almost positive I would lose myself in whatever strange link the rachni had. Just like how my bugs lost themselves to my power I wasn't sure I was strong enough to pull myself out of whatever serenity existed there and put that peaceful look on Elkita's face. I would be free of Nikos, sure, but I would be just like one of my bugs then. A drone like Elkita. What free will I displayed, a mockery.

But, if this was the price to protect the crew, my friends. Steve. Greg. Sharee and little Alex. Miguel. Paige. Even Dinah knowing she put me in this position. If this stopped whatever she saw coming… kept them alive...

Against every fiber of my being that urged me to run or fight, _to refuse_ , I brokenly whispered, "...okay."

Hope Singer's bulk shifted slightly. Two long appendages unfolded from her back, reaching out to me. Stopping to rest lightly on my shoulder in complete contrast to their comparable size. The queen's strange quad grouping of eyes began to glow a brighter blue I'd long since associated with someone using biotics.

And then I heard it. I'd been hearing it ever since I landed on this planet but I could identify it now. Hope Singer had obviously been holding back, but now, her song rang within my mind like a tide crashing on the shore.

It was an incredible, indescribable melody. Closing my eyes, I listened, feeling a sensation I hadn't felt since before Sebastian died.

And for that moment, I was completely at peace in a way I couldn't ever remember feeling.

' _Sing with us, Defiant Singer,'_ the queen whispered along to the melody that played. ' _Fight the oily shadows muffling your song. We assist, but only you can sing your song. Remember the Queen Singer you have always been, and sing!'_

I sang.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Time ceased having meaning. The world around me, non existent. Standing stalwart alone as a maelstrom of chaos and confusion roared around me, I listened to the soft, encouraging tones of the rachni song as I dealt with the terrible truth I now understood all too well.

When I opened my eyes the rachni song faded away. I was still within the cavern I'd entered, who knew how long ago. All around us, Brood Warriors and smaller rachni rested protectively. A makeshift nest of chitin that even a krogan wouldn't dare brave.

Elkita sat in a meditative pose. Eyes soft and unblinking as she watched me. Hope Singer's massive frame still rested before me. Her eyes no longer glowing brightly, but softly.

A thousand thoughts within me vied for attention. Plans, beliefs, thoughts, actions, so many things that it all passed over me. I could feel the few bugs I'd brought with me. Like always, they sat as I last ordered them to. Waiting for direction, for me to control them as I always had. Now that I knew what to listen for, I could hear the quiet murmuring of each rachni nesting around us, like whispers in a library. Soft, but unobtrusive.

"You understand now," Hope Singer stated.

Fresh tears fell from my eyes as I nodded.

"I do," I replied. Voice broken from disuse and the rampant emotions within me I didn't even try to contain. "It was all a lie."


	37. The Call 11

**The Call 5.11**

Steve exited the bathroom of the -kinda- motel room they rented yesterday. A very small and cramped single that barely qualified as a closet, much less a room. But it was cheap and off the beaten path. Plus later when the authorities tracked them down to it, it should be funny.

As the skit demanded, his dark suit was smart, just pressed but in a way that gave it a crisp yet casual air. Black tie knotted swinging with his movements over the unstained white of his shirt. Fedora on his head and raybans over his eyes. Likewise, Greg was seated at a makeshift table similarly dressed.

Approaching his friend, Steve couldn't help but feel the tenseness in the air was still prevalent. Similarly to how it always was right before they kicked off a job, and very different from when they used to do this kind of thing back in Brockton Bay. It might have been that it had been a long time since they ran a fun skit, but it was more likely the lack of time and difficulty of what they were going to do.

Also the likelihood of getting shot and killed was a thing too, Steve mused silently.

"So," Steve asked vaguely.

"Yeah," Greg agreed to the unspoken question without losing focus on the terminal in front of him.

"Well. Fuck."

Snorting, Greg didn't reply though his lips twitched in dark amusement.

Letting his friend work, Steve moved toward the window. Cigarette pack pulled from his suit as he tried again to mentally review their options. However, his thoughts kept drifting back to Greg.

Whatever he'd done to himself had resulted in a distinct lack of blackout. Not one since they left the Normandy together. That in itself wouldn't have been that eye catching, but Greg hadn't been idle with his power. He tinkered a few VI's on the shuttle and he did something with that terminal when they got here that let him have access to things Steve was pretty sure they weren't supposed to have access too.

No blackouts. Not one.

Steve should have been ecstatic for his friend. All the years he watched him struggle against his power. All the times he noticed Greg's depression after waking up realizing he was missing days and not being able to do much to help his best friend except lighten the mood.

When Greg first said he figured out a fix, Steve thought maybe he wired up a self shock system or something to keep him from falling deeper than Greg wanted, or something that would keep him from falling at all during inconvenient times. That would have been more than enough. But, that wasn't the case. Greg hadn't slipped once. Been normal this whole time, no slips into thought, no tinker fudge or even twitchiness. Hell, Greg wasn't even showing tinker obsession when using his power like other tinkers they knew of. Not even any weird muttering.

Steve was worried. That something was going to happen and take this away from Greg. In the last few days Greg had been at peace with himself in a way that Steve hadn't ever seen before. Confident in his power for the first time, ever. Acting more like the best friend he'd been before Tonic.

If this didn't last…

His worried thoughts were interrupted by Greg's curious drawl, "Man, these guys are everywhere."

"S'up?" Steve asked, moving behind his friend.

"I got access to the personnel records last night and sent them to Atlas to see if there was anything there we could use. Check it out," Greg said, pointing at the bit of data that caught his eye.

"You sure?"

"Atlas is."

"How did he figure it out? I'm not seeing anything here that connects up like that. This place isn't exactly the kind of hangout you'd expect those guys to work."

"Dunno," Greg answered. "But he's got direct access to the Brokers Network and all the other data crap we've been hoarding. He flagged the guy after I sent him the list."

Steve scoffed, "Cerberus. Man how'd these guys get spots in a turian shipyard anyways?"

"Probably the same way we did," Greg replied. "Corporate outsourcing for cheaper labor. Most of the stuff going on around here is grunt work. Way above important people's pay grade."

"Shit man," Uber snorted. "God bless the almighty dollar. Am I right?"

"Credit, but yeah man. That's a thing here just like it was back home," Greg said, shaking his head while eyeing the name and data Atlas had sent them.

Guy had been here a while. Several job changes as he worked his way through various assignments. The most interesting bit though, was Atlas's reports of several 'incidents' that had taken place around the shipyard.

Work orders to repair sensor coverage that had -for no reason anyone could figure out- suddenly stopped working. Misplaced materials that ended up labeled as 'shipping errors'. Little things that didn't seem like much, but Atlas had found links pointing to the guy as having either worked in those areas, or been in the area hours before the issues. Greg scrolled down, showing Steve several other names that had similar links to strange stuff. Not a lot and nothing that would stand out unless someone was really looking and knew where.

One of the biggest issues they had with this skit was how to do it without seriously hurting anyone. This wasn't like hitting a villain. Despite turian society being hardcore military based and their target being a military shipyard, they weren't the enemy. But, for those same reasons, hitting the place meant dealing with defenders who weren't going to play cops and robbers with them. Escalation was unavoidable, and that meant dead bodies unless they could find a work around. They needed to sow enough chaos and confusion that they could reach their target, steal it, and get away without anyone getting badly maimed, or killed on either side of the game.

Not an easy feat. Turians took their security as seriously as they seem to take everything else. Hardcore.

"Remember when we did the SHODAN skit?"

Blinking, Greg frowned. "I remember the name Brockton Gazette gave it. That whole thing wasn't our best moment. It got fucking weird after it went through your anime collection."

Steve slowly grinned.

"You're a sick bastard, dude."

"Look," Steve said. "I'm not saying a viral AI that would force them to go all the way, that would just be fucked up. But a limited viral VI that acted like that while chasing them around..."

For several long moments, Greg remained still. Eyes moving back and forth to thoughts only he could see until finally, he smiled.

"If you can't beat them with intelligence, baffle them with nonsense," Greg chuckled.

"Right?" Steve laughed. "Can you do it?"

"Dude, it's done," Greg scoffed. "If nothing else, it's a _hell_ of a distraction and exactly what we need. But we're going to need a starting point that connects to everything for it to work. Not just the areas we're accessing. If that's going to be in play, it has to be everywhere within the shipyard. That isn't going to be easy, these guys have there shit together."

Still smiling, Steve reached over Greg's shoulder, finger resting on one of the problem names they'd been discussing a moment ago.

"Dude, the Space Nazi's have already done half the work," Steve said, smirking.

Greg's smirk matched his friend as he saw what he meant. "I hate Space Nazi's."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

When the airlock opened, Paige instantly looked away from the terminal she commandeered in the CIC. By the time Liara walked through, Paige was already out of her seat and approaching.

"Anything," she asked desperately.

Looking somehow sympathetic and frustrated, Liara shook her head. "I'm sorry."

The tension in Paige's shoulders deflated as she slumped.

"I hate to ask," Liara hesitated. "But does Taylor have a predisposition to disappearing like this?"

"No, never," she answered before trailing off to the thought that suddenly overtook her.

"Paige?"

"There was one time," she replied lowly. "And nothing good came from it."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Looking uncomfortable at the implication, Liara placed her hand on Paige's shoulder. "I have agents combing Illium for information. Looking for data on who she met with, the ship she boarded and where they went. My agents have never failed me in the past. We will find them."

"Thanks," Paige said, trying to let Liara's words encourage her before smiling weakly. "Shepard wanted to talk to you. He's in the planning room going over the heist details Sharee sent. When you hear something..."

"I will notify you immediately," Liara assured her. Giving Paige a last comforting rub to her shoulder, Liara walked away toward where Shepard waited.

Sighing, Paige half flopped back into the recently vacated chair. In front of her a picture hung in the air. Three people walking up a boarding ramp that led into a space ship. In front, an unfamiliar asari woman, half turned as if she was speaking to the two behind her. However, where the woman in front wasn't someone Paige recognized, she had no trouble recognizing those that followed her.

Dinah was being half carried. Face hidden by the last woman, Taylor. The picture clearly showed half of Taylor's face. More than enough for Paige to see the worry, anger, and frustration that etched it like the bugs stenciled into the arm that held Dinah.

Clearly, something had happened. Whatever the reason Dinah had for knocking out Chakwas, she was paying for it now. Worse, whatever that reason was somehow convinced Taylor to willingly get on a strange ship. Going so far as to even deactivate her omni tool. Going completely dark for the last few days.

"Atlas?"

The AI's avatar immediately appeared to the right of her console. "How may I be of assistance, Siren?"

"Please tell me you found something."

"I am sorry," Atlas responded in his multi toned voice. "I have combed through various data sources and have not found any information on the incident. Nor have I found any more detail on the ship Matriarch departed on other than it is an unregistered zara class cargo ship. No flags registered with any agency we have access to."

"I don't understand," she said. Blowing out a breath, Paige fully sank into the chair. "Are you sure Dinah didn't say or do anything after she left Med Bay?"

"No," Atlas replied. "As you are aware, Dr. Chakwas prefers Med Bay to be a closed system, as much as possible to ensure the privacy of her patients. I was unaware of Vates actions until Dr. Chakwas contacted me requesting her location. Vates left Med Bay and proceeded directly to the airlock without deviation where she departed the _Normandy_. I saw no reason to inquire nor interfere. At the time I was assisting Engineer Donnelly and Engineer Daniels contain power spikes due to incorrectly manufactured components that were installed in the _Normandy's_ drivecore. The components were malfunctioning."

"Why would Dinah do this. Why now?"

Atlas didn't answer at first, his holographic avatar softly pulsing giving Paige the impression he was thinking.

"Perhaps the incident on Omega where Vates pushed herself to unconsciousness caused her power to reveal something time sensitive and critical. Vates has never displayed a predisposition for manipulation in past interactions."

"Yeah, I figured as much considering she bolted the second she woke up," Paige huffed. "But what could be so important that Dinah would attack Chakwas instead of tell her? Or, hell, me? I was on the ship. I would have helped."

Atlas didn't respond, not that Paige expected him to. The only person who knew why Dinah did what she had, was Dinah.

Sighing again, Paige closed the window getting up from the seat once more. "I need to make sure we have everything ready for the heist. Keep looking Atlas? Find them."

"I will continue my endeavors," Atlas replied immediately.

"I know you will," Paige said gratefully as she walked away. Thoughts worried as she tried to hold back the dark thoughts her fears were pushing.

' _Oh, Taylor. I hope whatever this is, isn't what it looks like...'_

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Looking through the narrow hallway, Dinah watched the figures sitting in the pilot's and copilot's chairs. By the time she regained enough of her senses to force herself out of the infirmary bed to look for Taylor, it was already too late.

She intended to go with Taylor to the meeting. She needed to, had to. To make sure. But pushing her power as hard as she'd been doing for so long had took it's toll. Her incapacitation stealing away her shot. And now, now she didn't know if it had worked. If it had been worth it.

Taylor sat silently, hands dancing over the controls. Occasionally opening an extranet page, looking up something only to close it a few seconds later. A pattern repeated several times. Next to her, the asari woman likewise worked in complete silence. In tandem with Taylor in a way that was creepy in it's accuracy.

Taylor hadn't spoken to her. Hadn't visited her in the infirmary when they returned. Hadn't even checked on her once since they left the planet. Hadn't actually spoken at all since Dinah woke. Just sat there, helping the strange asari woman pilot the ship to who knew where.

Sighing, Dinah continued watching trying to ignore the gnawing pit in her stomach that was only partially influenced by her thoughts. Eventually wrapping her shaking arms around herself. Trying to keep her rebellious body from distracting her. Hopefully it would pass soon, but Dinah didn't put too much faith in it. They'd been steadily getting worse over the last month and whatever detox treatment they'd given her pretty much guaranteed it wasn't going to go away until she found something to take the edge off. Not likely for a while. Either Taylor or the asari woman had gotten rid of anything that would have helped.

For all her concentration, no answers came from her observation. Her power as unhelpful and silent as the duo in front of her. It was all she could do to repeat the same phrase over and over again.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry but it worked. It had to have worked…"

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Leet's hands were a blur over the terminal keys as he fought with station security to keep them from getting a message off station or from getting organized. Part of his mind on the task, some on their situation. Most of it though was on friends who were probably waiting for them on Bekenstein.

Atlas had been light on details when he asked earlier. Saying that there was a situation involving Taylor but that Dinah was with her and it wasn't a critical issue. Shepard was going forward with the heist, so they had to get this thing done fast, get away clean, and burn hard to catch up. He'd give them details when they arrived.

Altas seemed more interested in the data from his upgrade. Leet was too, and was more relieved than he was willing to admit when Atlas said that everything was working better than projections estimated. He'd not just gotten rid of the blackouts, but also -for the first time ever- could honestly say he had full control of his power. He tinkered now because he wanted to, and that made everything worth it. Atlas even disabled the fail safe Leet installed saying that it was no longer needed.

Shaking off those thoughts, Leet returned his attention to the present. Taking in each of the ten screens floating around him.

Mechs were live everywhere. LOKI's stalked without the accustomed weapons the security droids were known for. Scattered around were various FENIS units barreling chaotically like a mosh pit of puppies that had been cooped up too long. But the one's that got the biggest reaction, came from the YMIR's thunderous steps as they slowly chased whomever was closest to them.

Dock workers ran panicked through cargo strewn bays. Engineers activated omni tools attempting to hack the rogue mechs to stop them. Their attempts never lasting more than a few seconds before the viral VI would return, once again sending the mech marching. Security and other personnel who found weapons were shooting despite the fact the mechs weren't returning fire.

Through it all, the mechs marched. Occasionally their shield emitters popped rendering them vulnerable to weapons fire. Whenever it happened, FENRIS mechs would rush in acting as distractions until the shields recharged. They'd lost a few so far, but there was still a hell of a lot of them in play. No matter what was going on, LOKI's and YMIR's never ceased in reciting the pre programed phrases that sowed as much chaos as their uncontrolled activation had.

These guys were going to be so pissed when the smoke cleared.

Staring at one screen that showed a LOKI slowly walking toward a dock worker it had trapped in a corner, Leet asked, "Dude, what does LOKI stand for?"

"Dunno man," Uber answered distractedly. "Why?"

"I looked it up once but couldn't find anything on the acronym. They're just called LOKI's. It's seriously bugging me. Why give something an acronym but not tell anyone what it stands for?"

"Right right. If it's bothering you that much, just make up something."

"Alright. Thoughts on LOKI then?"

"How about; Lightly Organized Killing Inorganics?"

"Good enough for me. It fits anyways," Leet nodded. The dock worker found his spine. Either that, or he realized the mech stalking him really wasn't trying that hard to keep him in that corner. Leet wasn't sure which as he watched the man pick up a pipe, hit the mech hard enough to send it stumbling sideways before he bolted. The staggered mech immediately turned around and followed. Moving faster than it had just moments ago.

But no where near as fast as that guy was running.

"Awesome," Uber returned. "I named the LOKI's, you get the dog mechs."

Finishing adjusting a program to keep the communication lockout in place, Leet allowed himself to take a moment to watch a couple of the aforementioned dog mechs. The pair of FENRIS mechs gamboled through a squad's attempt to bunker down. One leaped over the makeshift cover, knocking the turian down and sending his rifle clattering down the hall. The other took out the legs of an unarmed human. Preventing him from running for the dropped weapon. The mechs constantly moving while using their bulk like a spasmodic battering ram.

"How about; Frustratingly Energetic Neurotic Rampaging Illiterate Synthetics?"

Uber laughed loudly, almost deactivating the welding torch configuration of his omni tool. "Man, that fucking works. Those things are a menace. Seriously, you didn't even need to do much to get them to freak out. Half the programing was already there."

Chuckleing, Leet nodded agreeing with his friend before his attention was diverted to the heavy stomping on the level just below them. Making sure everything was still smooth on his end, he looked over the edge.

A YMIR slowly approached a salarian engineer as he frantically hammered away at his omni tool. Whatever he was trying to do didn't seem to work as the YMIR hissed steam through its joints while it lumbered forward unaffected.

"Come on. Don't be a bitch," the hulking construct of heavy armor plating and weapons barked. It's booming synthetic voice counterpointed by each heavy footstep shaking the deck plating. When it spoke again, it's synthetic voice somehow sounded in both monotone and disapproving. "The safe word is 'Skynet'."

"Skynet! Skynet! Skynet," the wide eyed alien screamed hysterically.

"I lied. There is no safeword," the YMIR immediately responded raising it's massive arm. The tri fingered hand rotated once before the mech lowered it. "Assume the position."

Screaming, the terrified man below ran out of sight for all he was worth. The YMIR stomping after, chastising the running figure saying, "Do not run, you know you want it."

"YMIR," Leet said to Uber. "Go."

"Dude," Uber scoffed. "Yon Murderous Intelligent Robots. All the way. Those things are crazier than your Doombas."

"Well, these are," Leet laughed. "I can't wait to see just how much of this gets on the news."

"Pffft," Uber noised. "Don't worry about that. I cut loose a drone that will upload the feed to the extranet of everything going on here. Except for us. They're going to have to work for that shit."

"Not to EO, right?"

"Of course not," Uber answered dismissively. "Man, I want people to see this shit, not to fuck us over. Had Atlas set up something random with a VI to shoot the vid to the networks after we hit the relay."

"Nice."

"I thought so. Also, I'm done," Uber stated, stepping back looking pleased with the extra tie downs he welded to support the grav grapple holding the Thanix cannon to the shuttle.

"Sweet," Leet said looking at the hacked command center he'd set up. "Good thing too. We're out of time."

All monitors showed that the locals had decided enough was enough. Armed and organized squads moved, raining mass accelerated rounds into mechs not bothering to defend themselves.

Setting his last trick to upload, Leet headed toward the shuttle, climbing in. Likewise, Uber joined him taking the pilot's seat.

The easy part was done. Leet never doubted they'd get this far. Thanks to the Cerberus infiltration that Atlas found, they had all they needed to override and take over the shipyards systems. From there it was laughably easy to fly in, grab a canon that was awaiting installation, and strap it to the shuttle while everyone was running in fear of getting fisted by perverted mechanized security turned sex bot.

Best of all, later when the turians had time to figure things out, the finger was going to be pointed right at Cerberus. Cuz, seriously. Fuck Space Nazi's.

No, it was the getaway that was always going to be the real issue. He knew despite the communication blackout, that these guys knew something was going on and all it would take to figure some of it out was to look. Also because of the blackout they weren't going to just let an unregistered shuttle stroll out of here with a Thanix cannon strapped to it.

Which put all the rest of this on Uber and his flying skills. Leet doubted the ships waiting for them were going to let him play with their systems as easily as he had on the station. Even stacking the odds in their favor with everything he'd done so far, it was going to be a near thing.

Obviously not sharing his thoughts, Uber was relaxed in the seat next to him, hands dancing over the interface. After a moment, he leaned back. Seemingly taking in the moment before they pulled their last stunt.

"It's a fuck ton of light years to Bekenstein, we got a big ass cannon strapped to the roof of a stolen shuttle, half the turian military waiting to shoot us, it's void black, and we're wearing shades," Uber stated.

"Hit it."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

"This is the best idea, ever. Of all time," Shepard deadpanned. Hands easily sliding aside the holographic window in front of him letting him pull another to the front.

"You'll be fine," Rockford's voice encouraged him.

"Do I look like a vid star?"

"Well, if you were, then this party would definitely go differently than we want it to."

Letting his eyes drift from the screen in front of him, Shepard looked to the one showing Rockford's image. In the background, he could see Marino sitting in a chair watching a vid screen that was displaying something that had the man laughing harder than Shepard had seen another laugh. The toddler in his lap laughing along with him, though it seemed more for joining in then for any understanding of whatever it was on the screen.

Rockford's face took up most of the screen. Her time here had obviously been sent in the sun, something that Shepard thought worked for the woman. She was smiling wryly at her own comment, though he noticed it didn't reach her eyes. Obviously worried about her teammate but unwilling to let it interfere with the mission. Something he could appreciate, though it was slightly shocking to see that kind of steel in someone that more closely resembled a civilian than a soldier.

This was the first time he'd interacted with her on this level, much less worked with her. Unlike Hebert, Baker, Richardson, and Marino, Rockford wasn't a combat specialist. That didn't even include the fact she was the mother of the youngest member of the _Normandy_. But that didn't stop her from obviously knowing her stuff, and having spine to run mission command flawlessly.

Returning his eyes to the page hovering in front of him, he took in the mission details she'd uploaded to him via the omni tool he was given specifically for this mission. Around him the well maintained vista of the planet Bekenstein passed unnoticed as his aircar flew along.

"Why Solomun Gunn," he asked.

"It's classy," Rockford replied immediately.

Taking his eyes off the page, he turned to stare silently at the woman.

"Also, we've already established that cover," Rockford chuckled at his look. "It's the male flipside to a cover Matriarch uses. Uber used to use it before we came here. You know, when we needed to do something that wasn't supposed to include explosions and gunfire. It didn't take much to get that out on the extranet to sell it. Between Liara and Atlas, your covers impregnable."

"Well, at least you gave me a military background," Shepard sighed.

"References, actions, connections and links in data that can't be confirmed as well as articles in 'Badass Weekly'," Rockford amusingly informed him. "That last part was Liara's contribution, just so you know."

"Of course it was," Shepard sighed, wondering when they turned his old friend against him.

"Besides, Donovan Hock likes his mercenaries," Rockford continued. "Especially those mercenaries who don't care about who's paying as long as the credit's clear, are willing to get dirty to get the job done, and have a high success rate. He's always on the look out for the next up and comer. He practically jumped on the information we made available to one of his agents to invite you."

Making a noncommittal noise, Shepard continued committing those details to memory. Past jobs, key events and most importantly, the names associated with everything.

"I'll be listening and watching with my power," Rockford assured. "It won't be the same as having Matriarch in play, but the lag shouldn't be that bad. I'll be here should anything go sideways or you forget anything. You're wearing the ear pieces, right?"

"Yes." Shepard answered.

Next to him, Mcabee shifted in her seat. Another issue he had with this mission. Like Rockford, Mcabee wasn't a fighter, but here she was. Willingly walking into something that wasn't just dangerous beyond her ability to handle, but had a high likelihood of going very bad at the first slip from any of them.

Even worse than the fact he wasn't wearing armor since they were supposed to be attending a dinner party, she wasn't either. Instead, she wore a dress that left a lot of her legs exposed along with a plunging neckline that dipped to her navel. It was a the kind of dress he'd expect to see at a high society gala, not a rogues gallery.

"And what happens when 'Allison' isn't as advertised?" Shepard asked.

Mcabee answered. "I might not be able to beat people to death with their own livers, but I've been a villain long enough to fake it. More than long enough to do my part, anyway."

"That doesn't explain the inconsistency. He's expecting a pair of mercenary captains."

"And instead he's getting a mercenary captain and his arm candy," Mcabee returned unconcerned.

"Lawson could have pulled off the part. More importantly she has combat training and she's a biotic."

"True, but can you actually imagine Miranda trying to play the part without breaking someone's spine when they grabbed her ass? Besides, she can't master Hock," Mcabee argued easily. "I can play the part of an obedient airhead pet better than Miranda can. That's going to make more sense to a dirty bastard like Hock than a woman who stands as a man's equal and makes sure they know it. He'll probably assume the details were just incomplete due to how secret we are. You do run a black-op merc company known for working without leaving any evidence."

"You that certain?"

"I'm certain that we know better what kinds of people these are than you do," Mcabee answered surely. Her voice carrying a slightly dark edge. "You might have killed more villains than we have, but we've _dealt_ with more on a personal level. Just how our old line of work was at times. I'll be fine. All you have to do is get me a couple of minutes alone with Hock. I'll do the rest."

"And what happens if this does go sideways and the shooting starts?" Shepard tried to argue half-heartedly.

"Then I'll just have to jump behind my convenient meat shield, _husband_ ," Mcabee laughed teasingly. "Don't worry though. If everything goes to plan there shouldn't be any shooting. Not once I get Hock to send his people away. By the time they get back, we'll hopefully own the place."

"If the mission is that easy, why are we playing this game?" Shepard groused. "More importantly, why am _I_ doing this? There had to be someone else in the crew better suited to this kind of thing."

"We need someone who can play the part of an unstoppable ruthless mercenary captain," Mcabee answered. "Who else on the crew knows enough about the gritty details of this reality, looks and can convincingly play the part?"

"Also just in case because of the non-humans Hock keeps for security," Rockford continued after Mcabee finished. "Siren's power won't work on them and we don't know for sure what they're going to do after she master's Hock. For all we know, he's got contingencies in place against him acting weird. He's paranoid enough and from what my power's observed he's expecting something to happen today."

"He is? What?"

"I don't know, but something," the woman on the vid screen answered. "He didn't explain to his captains. Just told them to be vigilant and to keep everything locked down hard while the party's going on. He seems to think whoever it is has their eyes on his vault."

"That sounds like sending them away is going to throw up flags," Shepard noted.

"Yeah, that's the catch," Rockford agreed. "But without Matriarch in play, we have to run with Plan B to deal with whoever has Hock concerned. If they show up sowing confusion, it's going to complicate our own objectives."

Sighing, Shepard nodded, changing pages again. This time for the layout of Hock's house. His eyes moved taking in the fortifications, walls, and rooms. In addition, under the house was what looked like an entire munitions manufacturing plant. Something that interested him greatly, and was half the reason why he agreed to this madness.

Disruptor Torpedoes and Javelins weren't the kind of thing you could just pick up at your local arms dealer. The kinds of people who would sell them, were also just as likely to use them on you instead. Also, if Rockford's intel was accurate, Hock had a couple of GARDIAN turrets in there. Cerberus had only installed two on the Normandy, and those were forward facing with limited fields of fire. For full coverage, they needed at least another two.

However, that was also half the problem. Hock wasn't stupid. He had a small army here, was already expecting trouble, and had the home field advantage. Even the location was remote, sitting high on a hill that gave the estate clean lines of sight for miles. A single ring of guard houses lining the outer edges of his property complete with AA turrets.

It wasn't a house, it was a God damn military base.

He was supposed to infiltrate the house with nothing more than the two of Hebert's team mates. Neither of which had any military experience. One wasn't even going to be there but instead would be acting as field command while her magic power gathered intel. The other, who was more fashion diva than infiltrator, would be going with him where she would use her own brand of magic to temporarily indoctrinate their target. All the while, a third party was going to be in play, and none of that accounted for the fact that the dirtiest who's who of the day was going to be in attendance. And all he had was this nice suit, a pistol, and his biotics.

Best idea, ever. Of all time.


	38. The Call 12

**The Call 5.12**

The air car slowed, landing softly. Mcabee winked at him before opening her door and exiting the car. Sighing, Shepard followed suit.

The large multi story mansion stood. Glass windows ran from the ground past multiple floors. Decorative trees and grounds all carefully maintained giving the place an important air. The panoramic view behind him was of a vast forested stretch leading to a cliff face overlooking the ocean.

The outer expanse of Hock's estate was impressive. The small port where they parked gave the impression it was chosen just for this effect. Adding to that feel was the multitude of armed guards openly patrolling the grounds. Men and women, mostly human but Shepard noticed a turian and two salarians among them. Without exception each one dressed in intimidating and heavy black armor trimmed in white. Most carrying a combination of assault rifle, shotgun, and sidearm. As Shepard took it all in, he had to give Hock credit. The full spectacle was enough to get his point across. That of making sure each guest appreciated just how wealthy and powerful their host was.

Facing forward again, Shepard noticed the man himself, Donovan Hock walked down the grand staircase toward them. Hock looked like the vid captures Rockford sent him. Tall, chiseled features with an aristocratic air. An expensive looking glass of champagne held loosely in his hand.

"This ought to be interesting."

"That's what we're going for," Mcabee muttered next to him as she placed her hand on his arm. Getting the hint, Shepard raised it slightly as he led them toward their host. Suddenly there was a static like cackle in his ears that lasted for a moment before Rockford's voice spoke.

" _Remember, Hock's expecting a ruthless dirty bastard, so that's who you are now. Well, more of a ruthless dirty bastard than you usually are. Just think evil thoughts, or something."_

Stifling a sigh, Shepard tried to follow the advice. Tightening his face into a scowl, he thought about his anti piracy days. Remembering the kind of men and women he'd hunted for the Alliance. The things he discovered they'd done. The attitude they'd displayed after he'd tracked them down and confronted them, right before he permanently ended their careers.

Unbidden, his thoughts turned to one particular pirate captain from those days. The man thought himself cut above the rest. A man of business. That said business happened to be enslaving helpless colonists didn't seem to bother him in the least. He considered himself, in his own words, to be a man of 'quality'. Shepard pushed the end result of that meeting to the back of his mind as his host reached them.

"I don't believe we've met," Hock greeted once he was in front of them. His voice was deep, cultured in a way that made Shepard wonder if he took lessons just to get that effect. "Donovan Hock."

"Mr. Hock," Shepard returned, not bothering to extend his hand when the man didn't. "Solomon Gunn."

"Ah, Mr. Gunn, of course. I had hoped you would accept the invitation. I've heard quite a few interesting things about you. Making quite a name for yourself recently, if the extranet is to be believed."

"I was surprised to receive one at all," he replied. Shrugging, Shepard continued. "But I'm sure a man in your position hears quite a bit more than most."

"Indeed," Hock agreed cooly. "I was most particularly interested in discovering that it was you who was responsible for the event in Sol, not so long ago. The Alliance's embarrassment was quite amusing to more than a few people."

Playing along, Shepard nodded his head slightly. A dark satisfaction in his grin when he replied. "A… particularly profitable venture for both my Renegades as well as our employer. After all, opportunities where one can shake the complacent from their delusions should never be wasted."

Hock warmed slightly, an approving cruel smile on his face as he nodded regally. "Yes, too few understand that the galaxy is fragile. To willing to cling to their gleeful delusions of peace. It is why I invited you and my other guests here today. It is too rare that like minded individuals like us can associate on a more… personal level, shall we say?"

"There are always opportunities for men in our line of work," Shepard said leadingly.

"May there always be a market for the things we do," Hock agreed. His eyes turning to Mcabee. "Something I hope we can discuss later. But first, this must be your lovely wife."

Shepard nodded. Mcabee removed her hand from his arm, extending it to Hock. Unlike with Shepard, Hock extended his hand taking hers, brushing his lips across her knuckles. When he straightened, Mcabee's lips moved but whatever she said didn't register to Shepard.

" _Try not to react,"_ Rockford's voice suddenly sounded in his ear. " _Your earpieces are filtering out Siren's voice. So you don't get mastered. Right now she's just schmoozing Hock. I think. I can't hear her either, but that's what she's supposed to be doing."_

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Shepard waited.

"Interesting," Hock said lowly. His eyes transforming from curious, to a slightly hungry look that Shepard didn't like. "In that case perhaps Mr. Gunn wouldn't mind if I stole you away?"

Shepard shrugged, feigning disinterest. "Why do you think I brought her?"

"Excellent. Shall we then?"

Nodding assent, Hock led Mcabee up the stairs toward the house.

Feeling the his forced neutrality fade into a frown, Shepard muttered, "I really don't like this."

" _Neither do I,"_ Rockford said. " _But it's the only way that gets the job done with least risk."_

"You sure she's going to be alright?"

" _She'll be fine."_

"How is she going to let us know she needs help if neither one of us can hear her?"

" _Siren has a panic button,"_ the woman answered. " _Just in case, stay close but don't hover. He's the host of the party, so I doubt we'll have to worry about him trying to get… private with her."_

"I really don't like this."

" _We've done this kind of thing before,"_ Rockford said tiredly reminding Shepard that Mcabee wasn't just an asset, but also the woman's friend. " _I'll keep an eye on her as well as other points with my power. Hopefully this won't take too long. It usually doesn't. Now hurry up and join the party. You look crazy talking to yourself on the steps."_

Walking into Hocks house furthered Shepard's thoughts on the estate. The blueprints Rockford made gave the impression of a military base camouflaged as a rich man's house. The interior upgraded the thought to a live in art gallery.

All along the walls were paintings depicting a wide range of scenes. Portraits and landscapes of impressive vistas. Each of them impressive in their details speaking of the artist's talents. Interspaced between them were other types of art. Vases, sculptures, as well as other such expensive looking pieces that came from who knew where.

Walking through it all mingled Hock's guests. Mostly human, though several salarians and a few asari were also in attendance. Men and women dressed in fine clothes obviously meant to impress. While he thought Mcabee's dress should have been a bit more conservative considering what they were here to do, Shepard noticed that compared to some of the others around him, it was almost tame.

It was easy to tell who was invited, and who was merely there to act as adornments. Arm Candy, Mcabee called them. Mostly women but a few men who spoke little and wore less. None of those he looked at had been fitted with cranial implants, though considering the people in attendance, Shepard doubted it would have bothered anyone here if they had.

Moving through the light crowd he half listened while keeping Mcabee within his peripheral vision. It took most of his self control to prevent his anger from showing as the people around him conversed. While all these people might have looked the part of paragons of business, vid stars, or affluent patrons, the topics of discussion proved that Rockford's intel was right on the money.

Shipments of military grade weapons, movements of illicit drugs, stolen goods of various types and quantities, and even slaves predominated all topics of discussion. This really was a representation of the worst of the worst that the galaxy had to offer.

Through it all, he pretended to take in the extravagance around him, ignoring anyone who didn't address him specifically. Thankfully, that last part was made fairly easy as few approached him outside of the serving girls.

" _You're doing great,"_ Rockford said.

Facing a painting of a forest full of blood red foliage, Shepard replied lowly. "Any issues?"

" _No, everything is going about as well as it could be."_

"Mcabee?"

" _Siren,"_ Rockford corrected immediately. " _And Hock's introducing her to various people at the moment."_

Turning away to look in Mcabee's direction, Shepard raised his glass to obscure his mouth's movements. "How much longer?"

" _I don't know. He's doing most of the talking but my power says Siren's doing her thing. Soon, I think. It would be easier if she could get a few moments alone with him, but we can work with this. It just takes longer."_

"Keep me updated," Shepard ordered lowly.

" _I will, just… walk around for a bit or something. Try not to look like you're stalking Hock."_

Deciding to take the advice literally, Shepard moved toward the other side of the room. Not wanting to engage anyone in conversation, he continued keeping his gaze from meeting anyone else's. Instead, he moved from painting to painting while always keeping Mcabee in sight.

While he waited for Rockford and Mcabee to do whatever it was they planned to do, he used his time to access the area more thoroughly. Noting possible cover, guard placement, and forbidden areas like the living quarters and security office. He also found a set of stairs that according to a couple sitting adjacent to them, led to Hock's vault. There weren't any guards posted, but Shepard knew from Rockford's intel that it didn't matter. No one was getting in that thing without Hock himself to open it.

Eventually his meanderings brought him close to a small group of people intently watching a vid screen. A news broadcast by the look of it. Shepard had moved to turn away when one of viewers watching spoke.

"Definitely asari," the woman said smugly. "That kind of flying isn't something one does without a great deal of experience."

"Please," the salarian next to her drawled. "Just because your people live for a thousand years doesn't make you the best at everything. Some individuals just have talent and this pilot is most certainly an artist."

"We'll see."

His curiosity peaked despite himself, Shepard took a closer look at the vid screen. The timestamp on the report showed that the event being reported took place several hours ago. However, even with the sound muted, the displayed image said it all.

A shuttle was moving through space, dodging asteroids with a skill that was definitely noteworthy. Especially considering the fact the pilot had strapped a large bulky piece of cargo to the roof of that shuttle. The over burdened vehicle moved, dogging not just the chunks of space rock, but also weapons fire with an effortless ease that was almost unbelievable if he wasn't seeing it with his own eyes.

Two full squadrons of turian fighters followed. Raining mass accelerated rounds toward their target while also trying to navigate the asteroid field themselves. More than one of those fighters didn't have the same talent or skill of the shuttle pilot, as kinetic barriers flared momentarily from collisions. Even as Shepard watched, three fighters took damage. The first from misjudging the size of the rock he was trying to get around, and the other two when the first pinballed into them.

The camera panned outward, giving them a wider view. The shuttle continued it's neck break pace at what must have been a suicidal full burn. Fighters tried to pin him in, trying everything from weapons fire, shooting rocks into the shuttle path, and trying to ram him with their own ships. Through it all, the shuttle continued to fly unimpeded in a way that Shepard wasn't sure even Joker could duplicate.

Obviously tired of the game, the question of skill, talent, or experience became moot when several turian frigates started firing. Amazingly, the shuttle continued it's heroic motions for several minutes before it was eventually overcome.

A well aimed round completely demolished an asteroid, sending pieces of it in all directions. One of those pieces took out one of the rear thrusters and sent the shuttle spinning momentarily out of control.

It was all that was needed for the fighters to finally get in a few clean shots. Before the pilot could regain control, the shuttle cleared the asteroid field momentarily taking them into open space. It's barriers flared when the fighters precision shots tore into it.

"It was only a matter of time," a turian in an expensive mauve suit muttered. He nodded to his own point as he continued. "Gallant, but foolish against the Hierarchy."

Seeming adrift, it appeared their apprehension was mere moments away when a ship suddenly dropped out of FTL right in the midst of the pursuit. A Zara class freighter if Shepard was any judge.

It's sudden appearance wasn't the only surprising thing. The Zara instantly cut loose with a barrage from it's GARDIAN lasers. Each lance of light striking with its accustomed accuracy into the fighters, scattering the lighter vehicles. Even as Shepard watched, the barrage continued in a manner that told him the Zara's crew had disabled the firing limiter. Beam after beam blazed forth in complete disregard to the heat build up they were generating. At the current rate of fire, it would only take seconds to completely burn out the turrets and leave the new arrival defenseless.

But that seemed to be all the Zara needed. Fighters scattered at the hail of laser fire. Most showing damage as they peeled away to regroup. Heedless to the chaos it had sowed, the Zara rotated slightly, firing two torpedoes toward the shuttle. Both exploding unnervingly close, but not so close to damage the drifting vehicle. Instead, the distorted and warped spacetime fields created a physical barrier further separating the fighters from the shuttle.

Through the narrow gap generated by those well placed rounds, the Zara quickly moved forward, it's loading bay opening like the mouth of a beast that swallowed the shuttle whole. Even as the door started closing, the Zara's image distorted. A second later it jumped back into FTL, vanishing as quickly as it appeared. Rounds from turian frigates that were out of position at the start flew through the empty space, their target long gone now.

Pleased gasps erupted from the watching crowd and several of them actually clapped at the narrow escape. Obviously pleased at the unexpected twist. The image of empty space vanished to be replaced by an image of two men. Both humans wearing dark suits, white shirts and ties that looked really out of place from what Shepard knew of current fashions. Their faces partially obscured by a matching hats, and dark eye glasses. Both men's faces gave the impression of bored indifference that seemed almost contradictory to the apparent care in their crisp look. Lowering his eyes to the captions under each, Shepard read the names associated. Elwood and Jake Blues.

The turian who only moments ago stated the surety of the outcome, sputtered comically. Next to him, the salarian smiled widely. "Humans. Of course. Who else would have the audacity to spit in the Hierarchy's eye, the insane recklessness to kick them in the sheath, and the sheer dumb luck to get away with it."

Turning slightly, he continued when he noticed Shepard standing close to him. "No offense meant to present company, of course."

Despite his words, the salarian didn't seem to care if he insulted Shepard or not. Raising an eyebrow, Shepard smirked. "I wasn't insulted."

Taking one last look at the image on the vid, Shepard turned and walked away. Once he was clear of any others, he muttered, "Rockford."

" _I can explain."_

"This should be good," he muttered.

" _Oh, well, um,"_ Rockford said. Stumbling over her words before half asking half stating, " _That's kinda just Uber and Leet? I mean, they do stuff like this every now and then. You just… kinda get used to it."_

"Seriously," Shepard half asked, half growled.

" _Well…"_ He waited in silence for several moments before she finished, " _...nope. I got nothing."_

Raising his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, and using his it to obscure his mouth from a nearby server, Shepard said, "When this mission is done, we're going to talk about how two of my crew took it upon themselves to attack and rob a race that just so happens to be in control of not only the largest fleet, but also the one who controls most dreadnaughts in Citadel Space."

" _I'm sure they had a good reason for it."_

Sighing to himself, Shepard didn't comment further. Instead he took a look around. "Where is Mcabee?"

" _Out on the balcony,"_ she immediately replied sounding thankful for anything other than the prior topic to discuss.

Looking that direction, Shepard easily found them. Hock was shaking the hand of the man he was talking to. Once the man turned away, Hock's hand drifted to the side of his head as if pained. Just as quickly as he did, he lowered his hand, smiling warmly at another guess that approached him. As if she could feel his eyes looking in her direction, Mcabee turned slightly to face him. The smile on her face changing to confusion before it vanished when she turned back to Hock.

"Something's wrong," Shepard stated.

" _What,"_ Rockford said before trailing off. " _Shit, you're right."_

"What is it?"

" _I don't know. Hang on a second."_

Frowning, Shepard started moving away from the main room. Hock was outside on an expansive balcony where he was talking with guests who were enjoying the view. Rockford's voice returned by the time Shepard arrived on the opposite side, putting his elbows on the railing.

" _She hasn't hit her panic button, but she's fidgety and Hock isn't acting right."_

Turning slightly, Shepard watched. While Hock looked composed, he would occasionally flinch for no reason. More than a few times his hand drifted to the side of his head as if he had a headache, face displaying discomfort before it vanished. As he observed, Shepard noticed it seemed to happen whenever Mcabee spoke.

"Can Mcabee hear you?"

" _Siren,"_ Rockford again corrected him. " _Seriously, you're the one who named her. You could at least use it. And yes, she can hear me. The filter is only one way."_

"Alright," Shepard said. His mind churning over the situation. After several moments of internal debate he decided that they needed to regroup, re strategize. To that end, Shepard started to consider ways to separate Mcabee from Hock without drawing attention.

He'd just settled on a plan when the point became moot. While talking to a salarian, Hock's omni tool activated. After taking a look, he frowned and excused himself. Abruptly walking away from both the salarian and Mcabee.

Taking the opening, Shepard immediately approached. Mcabee gave him a wide smile, casually linking her arm with his. Once he led her to a secluded area of the balcony he asked, "What happened?"

Mcabee put her hand on his chest and then activated her omni tool. Instead of the accustomed gauntlet appearing, only a thin ring appeared around her wrist. He watched her lips move silently while she used his body to hide her use of tech from the guests behind him.

" _She says her power isn't working for some reason,"_ Rockford answered seemingly confused. " _That shouldn't be possible. He's human."_

"He acted like he had a headache."

" _She says she noticed. It got worse the harder she pushed."_

"Connection?"

" _Probably, but what, I don't know. Neither does Siren."_

"Has this happened before?" Shepard asked. "Her ability not working right, or at all?"

" _Back home it happened a few times, but it was always because the target was mastered by another cape. Mastering the mastered is always hit and miss. Mostly a lot of miss with strange results,"_ Rockford replied. " _But that shouldn't be an issue here. We're the only capes that exist."_

"What about the message he received?"

" _She didn't get a good enough look. I'll see what I can find out."_

"Alright," Shepard muttered, fairly sure he got the gist. "How do we proceed?"

" _Good question. Give me a minute."_

Looking around didn't reveal anyone seemingly suspicious of their placement. Guest's continued to mingle, lost in their own conversations. Servers continued to hand out glasses of drinks that probably cost more than most marines monthly salaries. He frowned at one moving their direction hoping she got the message when Mcabee patted his chest with the hand she had kept on him.

The young woman couldn't have been much past her early twenties. Brown haired, and wearing the same get up the other servers wore. Her face displayed no emotion as she moved closer with downcast eyes.

Mcabee smiled at her, lips moving still eerily silent to Shepard's ears. After a moment, the young woman looked up. Unsure at first but then more firmly. She blinked her right eye, then scrunched her nose before crossing both eyes and sticking out her tongue.

Still smiling, though looking more strained, Mcabee said something else and the server seemed to shrink back in on herself. Back to how she was a moment ago and moving away. Once she was out of earshot, Mcabee's face darkened, lips moving as she spoke to her omni tool.

" _Siren says it's not issues with her power, it's working,"_ Rockford explained. " _She also had some colorful things to say about Hock, which is pretty extreme for her, but I can't say I don't agree."_

"Garrus still on standby?" Shepard mumbled.

" _Yes."_

"It looks like we need to switch tactics."

" _What did you have in mind?"_

"The plan isn't working. Our options are abort, or find a way that will work."

" _I'd rather you guys get out than not leave at all. Hock's stuff isn't worth losing either of you,"_ Rockford said. " _However, Siren doesn't like the idea of walking away, and honestly, neither do I. I hate bastards like this. Siren want's to know what your plan is."_

Before he could answer a strange woman's voice interrupted. " _I have an idea, if you're taking suggestions."_

"And you are?" Shepard asked while trying to not visibly react.

" _Kasumi Goto. Pleased to meet you, Commander Shepard."_

In front of him, Mcabee stiffened. Shepard turned around, eyes dancing over the crowd but not seeing the hacker that broke their comm encryption.

"And what makes you think that's who I am?"

" _Oh, you are Commander Shepard, no doubt about that,"_ Goto returned impishly. " _There's an air about you that isn't something that can be faked. I admit I am surprised to see you here. I was a fan before, but seeing you here trying to break into a house that is infamous for being impossible to crack really makes me like you more. You're biography doesn't say anything about you moonlighting as a thief. I'm impressed."_

Mcabee moved in front of him, hands moving to his tie miming fixing it before dusting imaginary lint from his front. Her lips moved, but Rockford wasn't relaying it. Figuring Mcabee was trying to keep up appearances, Shepard allowed his eyes to resume scanning the crowd, using her as cover to talk.

"Uh-huh."

" _I figure since it seems the two of us had a similar idea to hit Hock at the same time, a bit of professional cooperation might be in order. What do you say?"_

"That depends. What is it you want?"

" _Straight to the point, I like that,"_ Goto said. " _I'm here looking for something… personal. It belonged to my partner. Hock killed him to get it and I came to take it back."_

" _The Grey Box,"_ Rockford stated surely.

" _Oh? Someone's well informed."_

" _It's the only thing it could be. He's been obsessing about it for the last week and some of his men haved talked about it. Your name came up a couple of times,"_ Rockford answered. " _He locked it in the vault this morning before the party started."_

"I take it that's what you want from us?" Shepard asked.

" _No, actually,"_ Goto answered. " _Hock's Vault is an EX-700 series. Password voice lock keyed only to Hock, DNA scanner likewise keyed, and an impressive barrier system that requires both Hock and his security chief to deactivate simultaneously. One from the vault entrance with the other needing to be in the security office. Basically everything you need to make a vault impregnable. Took me ten minutes."_

" _You entered through Hock's arms manufacturing plant,"_ Rockford stated. " _There's unused corridors that run through there from the loading docks to the vaults cargo entrance. Hock only has token guards down there. Most were moved up to the main house for the party."_

" _I love a professional who does their homework. This one's a keeper, Shep."_

"If you already have what you came for, what is it you want?" he asked.

" _She's trapped,"_ Rockford immediately informed Shepard. " _When she tried to go back the way she came in, she triggered one of the silent alarms that were installed last Tuesday. Bulkheads locked everything down and the only way to open them is through closed circuit terminal access. To use it, you have to physically input the codes. Which is the problem since it's on the other side of the lockdown."_

" _...yeah, that would be my predicament._ _I'll make you a deal, Shep. Help me, and I'll help you. A little professional quid pro quo. How about it?"_

"Go on." Shepard said. So far most of the conversation had been over the comms. Those guests who took noticed of Mcabee and him standing by the railing easily dismissed them. The few who didn't, turned away at Shepard's glare.

" _I don't know what you came here for, but whatever it is, I can give it to you,"_ she said. " _Like your friend, I did my homework. I have codes, passwords, everything you need to fleece the place once Hock and his people are dealt with. Even better, some of those people are buyable, and I know which ones. All you have to do is rescue me, and they're all yours."_

" _Time is an issue,"_ Rockford's voice informed them. " _Hock is on his way down there with about two dozen of his men. Others are reinforcing the cargo dock and similar points between. You must have been what he was expecting today, he looks excited and he's not taking chances you'll slip away."_

" _Damn,"_ Goto cursed. A second later she spoke again, more chipper but forced. " _Well, how about it Shep? I hear damsels are your stock and trade, and there's one down here in need of a good rescue. Preferably a fast one."_

"Rorrim?" Shepard asked remembering to use the women's field handle.

Sounding slightly pleased that he did remember, she answered the unspoken question. " _If you go into the security office there's the elevator Hock used. The rooms empty at the moment and I have the password. If you hurry, you can catch up."_

Looking at Mcabee showed her nodding in agreement.

Giving the area a quick look revealed a distinct decline in the numbers of Hock's mercenaries. He must have grabbed most of before headed down. That would give them an opportunity that wouldn't last long, but one that if they made the most of it, would be all they needed.

"Alright," Shepard said firmly. The plan, such as it was, forming quickly in his mind as he started giving instructions. "Then this is what we're going to do. I'll go after Hock. Siren will make her way to the aircar and head back to the ship. Tell Garrus..."

" _Siren says she wants to help the servers get away."_

"That's going to draw attention toward her," Shepard noted looking into the firm eyes of the woman in front of him. "I'm not going to be in any position to assist if she gets into trouble."

" _She knows, but she doesn't want to leave them behind."_

"The aircar can't fit that many people."

" _There's other cars out there."_

Time was too short to argue about something they'd obviously set their minds to do. "Fine. Tell Joker to get ready to fast drop the shuttle. If anything goes wrong, I want Garrus's team to provide cover for the extraction. Hopefully I'll have caught up to Hock by that time and we'll be able to disband the mercenaries before they become too much of a problem."

" _Okay."_

"Good. Then let's go save our trapped second story girl," he said, stepping away from Mcabee and heading toward the security office. Hopefully she was up to the task she gave herself. So far she held up her end, even despite his earlier thoughts, but Shepard was still concerned. "Alright, that's the plan. Let's get it done."

" _...thanks, Shep,"_ Goto's voice spoke softly.

"Thank me when the smoke clears. We haven't won yet."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Shepard exited the elevator. Rockford's intel was as precise as it had been throughout the mission.

" _Go right. At the end of the hall, left, but be careful. Hock left a guard."_

"Status on Siren?"

" _She's okay,"_ Rockford's voice answered after a moment of silence. " _She's managed to get a few separated from the crowd. Right now she's mingling, getting the word to the rest."_

Striding forward he quickly rounded the corner. The mentioned guard immediately straightened on seeing him.

"I'm sorry sir, but you have to leave."

"It's alright," Shepard replied, continuing forward. "I'm supposed to be here."

"Sir," the guard said, hand dropping to his sidearm. "This is a restricted area. Turn around now, or I will open fire."

"It's okay, really, but maybe you could help me. Have you seen an asari come this way? Dark skin, tight purple dress? Big..." Shepard leadingly said, holding his hands out.

"Sir, no one is allowed down…"

Having closed the distance, Shepard struck, hitting the man in the throat before he could finish his sentence. Before the guard could do more than gurgle in pain, Shepard grabbed ahold of his head, applied the right biotic fields, and twisted. The hallway reverberated in a sickening crack all too familiar to the ex-specter.

Picking up the fallen side arm, Shepard thumbed the safety off. Rockford's voice sounded slightly strained when she spoke, but like the body on the floor, Shepard ignored it. Instead, putting in the code she gave him to unlock the door.

One hallway became another as Shepard followed Rockford's instructions. Trusting her intel since it hadn't steered him wrong yet, Shepard ran trying to close ground. He didn't meet any opposition until he reached a large set of open doors.

Inside stood Hock behind a ring of his men. A short hooded woman sat on her knees within the ring. Two heavily armored men holding her arms and keeping her there. As Shepard took in the scene, he noticed several of the mercenaries weren't wearing helmets. More than a few scowling and sporting injuries.

"...died screaming. Unless you wish to fully understand your old friend's last moments first hand, you will unlock the Grey Box, Kasumi."

"Why should I? We both know you're not going to let me go," Goto snarled. "And you won't kill me either. You have no idea if I encoded my own Grey Box, much less how to crack _it._ "

Hock didn't deny the accusation. His hand drifting to his head momentarily before he continued. "I don't need to kill you to break you. By the time I'm done…"

Looking up from the drama, one of the mercs finally noticed Shepard approaching. "Sir!"

Immediately bodies spun around, weapon stocks raised to shoulders as those previously unaware sighted him.

"Mr. Gunn?" Hock asked wearily.

Since the moment he stepped in, he'd sized the group up. Placement, weapons, and now as he watched them react to his presence, Shepard felt confident he had a good feel for their competence. These were decent mercs, but not good soldiers.

"Hi, Shep," Goto chirped. "This would be where your special skills would come in really handy."

Still stalking forward, Shepard looked directly at one of the mercenaries behind Hock. "Nice rifle. Armax Arsenal, right?"

He stopped several feet away from the group. The merc he addressed looked down at the rifle, then to the man next to him before refocusing back on Shepard. Hock's confusion faded to anger as he narrowed his eyes.

Allowing a smirk to form, Shepard rolled his neck.

"Kill Gunn!" Hock shouted.

Too slow, his men had barely tightened fingers on the triggers when Shepard mentally flexed his hold on the mass effect field surrounding him.

Reality dissolved, bent and twisted sickeningly. Shepard's world consisted of only two points, where he had been and where he wanted to go. The effect lasted only a fraction of a second before the translocation brought him directly within the circle of men.

However, reality doesn't like being played with. The field destabilized, twisted and warped space suddenly reverted. Explosively. Which was exactly what Shepard intended.

Bodies and equipment flew everywhere, scattered by his arrival. Ruptured space time still mending, giving Shepard those all important few moments to turn the situation around. Acquired pistol still in hand, he aimed putting rounds into the unprotected faces of the enemy holding Goto.

Screams of surprise and pain ignored, he lunged forward, raining several blows with his fists and feet. Never keeping to just one target, but instead moving from one to another chaotically buying the young woman time to get her feet and break clear. The disoriented mercenaries started regaining their feet when his pistol barked a final time, thermal clip exhausted.

Tossing it aside, Shepard threw himself into a roll grabbing the rifle he noticed earlier while also carrying himself toward its prior owner. Slamming the stock into the man's face, Shepard threw a field of force behind him, then cut loose with the rifle into more of Hocks scrambling men.

' _Definitely Armax Arsenal,'_ Shepard thought. ' _Don't see stock reinforcements like this from Elkoss Combine.'_

Allowing the ebb and flow of combat to guide his steps, Shepard stalked through the enemy. Biotic field there, force those men to cover, refresh barrier, rush that solitary merc. Aim, fire, reload. Through it all, Goto would appear suddenly, striking at one target only to fade away too quickly for the enemy to sight her. Several times she or Rockford would shout warnings about flashbangs but the fight didn't last very long for them to be an issue.

In no time at all he was the only thing standing. What had once been a storage checkpoint was now a war torn carnal house.

Assessing the empty battlefield, Shepard ejected another heat sink, slotting in a fresh one taken from the merc at his feet. "Goto?"

"Here, Shep," she answered, suddenly appearing next to him. Now that he had time to look, he noticed that her dark suit was actually a light set of body armor. Now scuffed, ablative plating broken in a few places, and there were even a few holes in her hood. His own suit had fared little better.

"You alright?" he asked, mildly concerned at her appearance.

"I'm alive, and that is more than I expected before you arrived. Thank you."

Shepard nodded. Looking around, he didn't see the one target that mattered among the fallen. "Rorrim, where's Hock?"

" _Legging it,"_ she immediately responded. " _He's moving pretty fast, but I guess he's well motivated."_

"Back to the house?" Shepard asked, eyeing the doors he entered from.

" _No, the docks. There's a gunship sitting out there. Looks like he's jumping ship."_

"No he's not," Shepard stated flatly. "The other mercs?"

" _Setting up choke points, though Hock isn't acting he like thinks they'll hold."_

"He's not wrong," he chuckled grimly. "Siren?"

" _She's managed to get half of them to aircar's and their gone. A couple of them are hiding in a room waiting for her to tell them when to go, and she's trying to get the last two still on the floor right now,"_ Rockford reported.

"And Hock's guests? Have they noticed anything yet? Security?"

" _The guests are starting to get suspicious, but not about Siren. They're wondering where Hock is and several have noticed the lack of security. They haven't noticed her activities either. Far too worried about you. Hock's screaming at them over the comm's."_

Turning to Goto, Shepard noted, "you handled yourself pretty well."

She smiled impishly. "Dangerous galaxy. A girl has to know how to take care of herself. Especially in my line of work."

Smiling at her point, Shepard asked, "I need to take down Hock for what I'm here for. I wouldn't turn down an extra gun. How far are you willing to take this?"

"He murdered my Keiji," Goto stated flatly, her earlier cheer gone as what he could see of her face darkened.

"Enough said," Shepard stated, fully understanding. "Let's go."

The following encounters proceed in the same manner as the prior one. Hock's men would attempt to stop them only to find themselves earning mass accelerated rounds for their trouble. The running firefight moved through metallic hallways, various cargo rooms, and even into the weapons manufacturing plant. Rockford found a shortcut to the docks through there. However, what had seemed like a good idea at the time quickly soured.

" _Look out,"_ Rockford shouted in his hear. " _One of the mercs just jumped into a tank!"_

Spinning to look, Shepard watched the Mako's cannon rotate until it was pointed right at him.

"Oh, hell."

Grabbing the railing, Shepard lept from the metal walkway he'd been working from, barely getting away from the shell that utterly destroyed it.

Landing in a roll, he straightened, charging across the room in a violent blue blur just as the canon fired again. Even as reality resettled, Shepard could feel the massive barrel spin toward him. Ignoring the heat from his amp burning the back of his neck, he didn't waste any time in charging in a different direction.

Unfortunately for everyone in the fight, the merc's aim was off. Instead of hitting the stack of crates Shepard had been behind, it flew high hitting a stack of munitions.

Secondary detonations destroyed the wall completely sending half of it into the next room. Judging by the noise, whatever had been on the other side had likewise been explosive as well. Rockford's voice shouted warnings seconds after he realized just what was about to happen.

Deafening explosions, a world of smoke and fire. The ground trembled costing him balance he sorely needed as he moved through the living hell all around him. Rockets cooked off from the fires creating a cascade of even more demolitions. The gunner in the Mako realized his mistake far too late when a large missile suddenly launched across the room into the side of the vehicle, tearing it in half.

Through it all, Shepard continued pressing forward knowing better than to sit still for too long lest he join the immolated mercs behind him.

"Goto!"

"Here," she shouted next to him. Leaping in tandem to his own when he barreled through the hole made by the Mako.

"Rorrim, quickest way the hell out of here?"

" _Straightforward, left at the forklifts. There's a cargo elevator that will take you up to the docks!"_

Running side by side, they moved as fast as they could following the provided instructions. No longer bothering to engage the surprised mercs who had been trying to kill them moments ago. They were far too busy now trying to contain the fires and prevent any more of Hocks munitions from joining the chaos.

Without opposition, they made it to the elevator in good time. Shepard slammed his fist on the controls to get it moving.

Heart thumping rhythmically, Shepard asked, "How bad's the damage back there?"

" _Could be worse, but I'm not sure how,"_ Rockford answered. " _Automated systems are doing what they can but it's pretty bad. And spreading."_

Feeling the elevator tremble from yet another explosion, Shepard cursed. "That didn't sound good."

" _It's not."_

"There goes our ordinance," Shepard groused.

Rockford sighed, " _Yeah, it's looking like that. Some of those explosions are keeping the fire suppression system from doing it's job. It's getting pretty crazy in there. Even the merc's behind you have given up. It's not looking like we're going to get back in there without way more effort than we can spare for the gain."_

Feeling another rumble shaking him, Shepard stated, "They have to be able to feel that at Hocks house."

" _They are now. The first explosion didn't shake them much, but now it's pandemonium. Hock's guests are fleeing as fast as they can. Well, trying too, Siren stole most of their cars so they're on foot and not getting very far. Expensive shoes don't help much when you're trying to run for your life."_

Smiling at Rockford's pleased tone, he asked, "Siren get clear?"

" _Before the first tremor shook the house,"_ she answered. " _She left as soon as she finished sneaking out the servers."_

"Well, we lost the main objective, but there's still one thing we can do while we're here," Shepard said. Grimly turning toward the opening doors of the cargo elevator as it continued raising them upward.

"You were after his weapons?" the hooded woman next to him asked.

"Originally, yes. Among a few other things. None of which is likely now."

"You know, there's all kinds of shinies in his vault, Shep."

"Despite what you might think, Goto, I'm not a thief. I'm not doing this for the money, but for the mission. I don't have time to sell stolen antiquities."

"Maybe not, but I bet you could trade a few of them for what you need. I didn't look around, but I noticed several pieces that would be easy to move, figuratively speaking. I bet the Alliance would be interested in some of the old earth pieces. If not, I know a couple of asari with connections that would be."

Despite his earlier thoughts on the subject, Shepard asked, "Status on the vault?"

" _It's a huge vault built to withstand an orbital strike,"_ Rockford dryly stated. " _Whatever's in there is probably safer than you are. Definitely safer than anything_ around _you."_

"Hmm," Shepard sounded. The top of the cargo elevator pealing away as it deposited them on the docking platform.

The area ahead of him was typical for what Shepard expected. Large shipping containers stood stacked on each other while all around them smaller boxes rested in a similar order only someone who worked here would understand. Clear lanes wove through the area leaving paths from the platform he arrived on, to several others.

Looking around quickly, Shepard said, "We'll discuss it later. Where's Hock?"

He no sooner asked when the stillness around him was filled with the roaring jets. A gunship rose from behind the farthest stack of crates, gun barrel already spinning even before it stabilized.

"You shouldn't have interfered, Gunn," Hock's angry voice barked from the gunships loudspeakers.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Shepard hissed, leaping away.

He threw himself behind a shipping container to his left. Goto immediately ran to the right, vanishing behind a similar container just as the gunship opened fire.

"I'm going to kill you Gunn," Hock gloated from the safety of his gunship. "I'm going to kill your wife. Your family. Even if you managed to get away from here, it won't matter. I will scour the galaxy for every single person who ever _met_ you!"

Leaning around the side of the container, Shepard fired. His rounds doing little against the vehicles shields. The gatling finally overheated but that did little to assure him when Hock's mocking laughter erupted. Right before the spread of rockets started racing toward him.

Dark energy surrounded him as he pushed his legs for all they were worth. Leaping over crates, running around shipping containers before charging across open stretches. All the while rockets exploded close enough for Shepard to feel the heat wash through his own barriers.

"I'm open to suggestions," he shouted.

"I'm trying to hack his shield emitters but the encryption is a little difficult to manage while dodging gunfire," Goto responded.

"Keep trying, I'll see if I can keep him chasing me around but I can't do this all day!"

Moving into the open, he added a mass effect field over a large shipping crate ahead of him. AS he approached, it rose just slightly. Timing his movements, Shepard raced toward it keeping the gunship in sight. When he had the angle about as good as it was going to get, he tossed a cascading field into the crate.

It was a trick he and Kaiden had used during times they were overrun when large heavy materials were readily available. As expected, the second field hit the first. The interaction of opposing fields didn't react well. The following explosion shot the large shipping container into the air, right at Hock.

Trying to ignore the blinding headache that spiked behind his eyes, he watched his makeshift missile fly. Unfortunately, Hock's gunship was more than nimble to avoid it despite his evident surprise. Cursing, Shepard ran back into the thick stacks of crates he'd abandoned a few moments ago, trying to think of ways to leverage the momentary advantage without overheating an amp that was already burning the skin around it.

Turning a corner, he saw the gunship swerve, moving out of range of any more surprise box projectiles. By now the gatling would have cooled, and Hock was obviously looking for him. Time was not on his side.

"How are you doing with that hack?"

"Poorly. Hock's closed all feeds to the gunship. I can't find a way in."

"That's disappointing," Shepard mumbled to himself. Hock was keeping himself out of range of just about everything he could think of. While Hock searched and Shepard hid, a shuttle arrived disgorging a half dozen mercs before flying away. The mercs instantly bunkered down.

He considered calling in Joker and ending this. While they didn't have any more torpedoes, the GARDIAN's would work well enough. He was about to make the order when Hocks gunship suddenly spun around.

What caught his attention was easy enough to see, as long as you were looking up. Three large falling objects raced toward them. Each enveloped in smoke and fire leaving trails hundreds of yards behind them as they fell.

"Rorrim, what the hell is going on?"

" _I don't know, I'm not Vates,"_ her frustrated voice shouted back. " _My power tells me what_ has _happened, I can't see in real time or tell the future!"_

"Fair enough," Shepard said, motioning Goto behind him in case he needed to shield them both from the approaching projectiles. "Tell me what you can when you can."

He noted they weren't missiles, too slow. Nor were they any meteorite he'd ever seen fall before. Again, too slow. Strangely their fall seemed almost aimed, if that was at all possible. All three arced through the sky, passing close to where Hocks gunship hovered before striking with a resounding crash on the far side of the area. Each impact sending up a cloud of smoke and flying materials.

"Ah-ha, Hock activated his comms. I'm in!"

"Bring it down," Shepard ordered.

The barriers around the gunship flared wildly. It's uniform field destabilized and arcing. Surprised, Hock reared backward, sending his vehicle sliding across the sky back to the edge of the dockyard.

"Now let's see him shrug off our rounds," Goto commented grimly as she raided her sub machine pistol.

Likewise raising his rifle, Shepard nodded. While gunships generally had good armor, that armor wouldn't be able to keep it in the air with the kinetic barriers to soften the hits. He was about to wave the thief forward when movement caught his eye. Instead, he knelt down, keeping the container between him and whatever it was he just saw.

He didn't get a clear look, but whatever it was had been big. Big and fast. His confusion deepened when the mercs ear piercing screams rent the air. From this position, he couldn't get a clear look at what was doing it but from a glimpse caught between two crates it was the thing he noticed earlier.

"Rorrim, what the hell is going on up there," he asked.

One black clad merc dove off the landing platform they'd been holding. Another soared through the air as if he'd been thrown.

" _The calvary. At least, I really hope that is what it is..."_

"Ah, friend of yours, Shep?"

"Until it tries to kill us, sure, let's go with friend."

"Not very reassuring."

The return of gatling fire broke the stillness. This time, it wasn't aimed at them, but at whatever it was hidden up on the platform. Shepard caught a few glimpses of it as it raced away. He didn't get his first clear look until it appeared over three stacked containers. Landing on them it wasted no time in running as Hock continued raining death. For a second, he almost mistook it for a collector. Raising his rifle he tracked it, taking in the differences.

Both wore chiltin looking armor that sent chills down Shepard's spine just looking at it. However, unlike the tan colored collectors they fought on New Canton, this figure was jet black. Splotches of red broke the solid coloring but Shepard couldn't tell from here if that came from choice, or from the mercs.

As he watched, the figure gave an impossible leap from the stack of crates to land catlike on a large pipe across from it. Hock still tried to gun it down but his rounds always struck just behind the fleeing creature.

"Well, Hock doesn't seem to like it," Goto pointed out.

"Let's see if we can help it then."

As they moved closer, Shepard took note of another difference. The collectors all had four eyes, two on each side of their triangular heads. The head of this figure wasn't shaped the same way and it's eyes had two clusters of four on either side. Three in front forming a half circle around a much larger eye. Each illuminated in a burning blue. The overall impression tickled something in the back of the ex-specter's mind but it eluded him.

Running out of pipe to run on, the figure showed one more difference between them. Biotics. Not the orange golden glow of Harbinger, but normal colored biotics flared around the figure igniting them in a halo of rolling purples and blues. Spinning on it's heel so fast Shepard almost missed it, it leaped away from the pipe and straight for Hock's gunship.

Realizing his mistake too late, Hock tried to veer away and almost succeeded before the figure vanished in a streak of blue only to reappear on the canopy of the gunship. Hock jerked the ship in an attempt to cast off his assailant with as much luck as his prior attempt. It's left arm still surrounded by a biotic field slammed into the gunships armor allowing it to hold on.

Reverberating impacts sounded to the tempo of the figure slamming it's right fist repeatedly into the canopy. Cursing, at being unable to get clean shot, Shepard waved Goto to follow him to a better position.

Jilting sharply, Hock tried again to dislodge the figure bent on beating it's way inside. The gunship spun through the sky like an insane top until finally, it became too much. Unable to maintain its grip, the body flew uncontrollably into the air. Shepard lost sight of it when it fell behind a highly stacked line of shipping containers.

Hock's victory was short lived. The tail of the gunship slammed into a loading crane. Amid the tearing of metals and sparks the uniform jets of the gunship sputtered at the damage. Grabbing Goto, he threw them both backwards and away from the falling machine.

It slammed hard enough into the ground to bounce not just the gunship, but them as well. Plowing a line across the deck and sending half the containers in the docks flying off the mountain. The follow up explosion ended any question of if Hock survived the crash.

The dock was a mess. Knocked over crates and scattered materials adorned its surface. A few small fires and trails of smoke rose into the air and for the first time in what seemed to be a very long time, it was quiet. No mercs, no weapons fire and no gunship.

" _Shuttle incoming,"_ Rockford's voice informed him suddenly.

"Where did that alien go?"

"I'm right here."

Turning towards the half familiar voice, Shepard got his first close look at the sudden arrival.

It came to a stop not far from them on a overturned crate. From here, Shepard could easily see it was humanoid. The chiltin like armor skin tight on what he thought was a woman. The faceplate of her helmet was even more chilling this close but it wasn't until two other figures joined her that he could finally remember the elusive memory and place it.

Rachni.

Next to him Goto stiffened, hand half raising her weapon. Shepard didn't blame her. The two rachni flanking the humanoid figure were brood warriors. The strongest and toughest of the species outside of the queen herself.

They weren't attacking though. Their large insect like bodies rested easy just behind the figure. The one on the left even reached over to poke the right one several time before it slapped its tendril away.

Through it all, all three figures seemed to stare right at him. Ignoring the shiver the attention caused him, Shepard opened his mouth to speak when the lead figure reached upward, gripping the back of it's head.

With a bone twinging crack, it slowly peeled away. A second later it fell in halves to the ground, revealing a familiar face.

Smirking, Taylor Hebert stood before him. Several large scarab looking beetles moved across her face, moving her hair away from her eyes. Eyes that were vastly different than the last time he looked into them.

Before, he noticed a sad quality to them, no matter what she was doing. A melancholy that seemed to follow her no matter how she spent her time. Now though, now they seemed to blaze with a fierce determination that he'd only seen before on a few people. Alight and alive in a way that he'd never personally seen on her before.

"Hi, honey. I'm home."

Snorting at her quip, Shepard allowed the barrel of his rifle to lower. "What took you so long?"

With a playful shrug, Hebert answered. "Side missions; what are you going to do?"


	39. The Call 13

**The Call 5.13**

A short hop brought me to the ground where Shepard waited. While I enjoyed the look of surprise on his face at me making jokes, we had just demolished the house and grounds of a well respected 'pillar of the community'.

Shepard's slightly narrowed eyes tracked the rachni following me.

"You've been… busy."

"Something like that," I replied just as vaguely. "It's been an interesting few days."

He didn't respond at first. Analytical eyes taking in every detail of my armor. Then looking to the two just behind me again before returning back to me. Looking right into my eyes, Shepard asked, "I would like to know just how interesting. Specifically, how did you find, much less managed, to take control of two rachni brood warriors."

"I'm not controlling them," I corrected. "They're here to help."

"Here to help."

"Yeah," I said turning to the two brood warriors behind me. Looking to the horizon I could see the shuttle approaching. "It's kind of a long story."

"I like long stories."

"I know you do," I chuckled. I knew Shepard was perfectly willing to stand here half the day talking until his curiosity was satisfied, but I wasn't and there was a lot of the story I still needed to verify before I talked about it to anyone.

"But a lot of it stretches back further than the last two days. In short, Hope Singer found me. Or, her agent did. That's where Dinah and I have been."

"Who is Hope Singer?"

"The rachni queen you let go on Noveria. She says hi, by the way."

Nodding as if I confirmed a point he was thinking about, Shepard continued. "Alright, but she told me she wasn't going to bother people again. I specifically remember her saying she was going to stay away from galactic events, and most importantly, it's people."

"She was, until Harbinger started abducting human colonies," I said. "She's been looking for you ever since so she could warn you. Instead she found me and we talked."

"Why you?" The following silence was interesting, but didn't last very long before Shepard tried a different direction. "That doesn't explain why you brought them here."

' _A Queen is never without her brood warriors, Sings of Endings, and Defiance Singer was away from her hive and nest ship.'_

Ignoring the voices only I could hear, I turned to the arriving shuttle. It's solid armored shape slowly settling on four flaring thrusters was the perfect deflection I needed.

"Do you really want to have this conversation this close to Hock's immolated remains, while surrounded by illegal and probably stolen merchandise, this soon after a firefight that was likely spotted all the way from town?"

"Alright," Shepard conceded as he eyed the settling kodiak. "But we're finishing this discussion as soon as we get back to the ship."

We weren't, but I nodded anyway, waving the rachni to follow me. I only got a few steps when Shepard spoke again.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"Boarding the shuttle."

"Correction, why are they coming with you? You don't expect to bring them on board, do you?"

"Of course," I said. "That is half of what Hope Singer sent them for. To help us. They can't do that if we leave them behind."

"Few people outside a very small circle even know that the rachni are not as extinct as they are supposed to be," Shepard stated flatly. "And you want to bring two members of a species that spawned an intergalactic war on board the _Normandy_ to be around those very same people?"

"We're supposed to be putting together a team of the galaxies best of the best," I needlessly reminded him. "The kind of people that can either out think, or out kill, everything this spinning ball of insanity can throw at us. I kind of think two members of a race that almost took out the collected might of the asari, salarians, and turians, count."

"Maybe, but it's a bad idea," Shepard stated firmly. "Half the crew will jump ship while the other half mutinies."

"You're over reacting."

Sighing, Shepard pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hebert…"

The brood warriors had been following the exchange as best they could, heads moving back and forth between Shepard and I until I turned to the closest.

"Oh come on, look at this face" I cooed, stepping next to him and putting my own flush against it. "How can you say no to this face?"

Looking at Shepard, the rachni opened his mandible slightly in what was an attempt at a smile.

I didn't need to see Shepard's expression to know it was, without question, the most terrifying and horrific smile in the history of smiles. Psychopaths in horror movies could take notes and laminate how they couldn't compete. This was the kind of smile that made babies cry, sent adult men and women running away screaming, and gave old people heart attacks.

Smiling myself, I waited. Shepard stood there for several moments in complete silence. From surprise at how the conversation turned or from seriously considering my question, I wasn't sure. I was sure that the strangled gurgle which escaped his throat meant he shared my unspoken thoughts on the brood warrior I was cuddling.

From Shepard's point of view, this was the face of a fierce murder machine. One, he'd seen do it's grizzly work. Very insect like, five part mandible each serrated, and despite its flexibility, more than capable of tearing through composite alloys, flesh and bone. He'd seen corpses left behind, witnessed rachni physically tear apart men and women with ease. He let the queen go because it was the right thing to do, but that didn't mean he liked them.

I could see his point. Not counting galactic history, the last time Shepard had encountered the rachni they had been insane and trying to kill him. Until now, he'd only met one friendly rachni that hadn't. However, Noveria wasn't the only place he had fought them. Cerberus had managed to steal enough genetic material and eggs to do their own experiments. Those experiments had decimated a Cerberus Depot, the freighter they were using to ferry supplies, and then managed to land on two separate planets where they then decimated a mining facility and two Alliance listening posts set up to monitor pirate activity before Shepard could stop them.

All in the span of about a week and those were the insane ones, not the smart rachni.

Without a word, Shepard turned around, walking toward the strange woman he was fighting beside when I arrived.

The large insect turned his head slightly. His large quartet of eyes somehow looking unsure as he asked, ' _Defiance Singer, did we do something to upset Sings of Endings?'_

"Of course not," I answered. "He didn't say no, did he?"

' _He didn't sing agreement songs either,'_ the other one noted.

"He'll come around," I assured them. "Come on, I want to introduce you guys to some of my more sane friends."

' _Are they like Sings Building Songs of Many Dead Peoples or like Sings Keeper of Teaching Songs Only He Can Hear and Sings of the Choices Between Worlds?'_

Turning slightly I thought about my answer. Through my power I not only heard, but felt, the multitude of meanings in that simple question.

"That's what I want to know."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

"I don't want to know," Cortez stated flatly as he got a good look at my companions and me standing at the open kodiak door. "I'm just going to fly the shuttle."

With that, he turned around, climbed into the pilot's seat, and then sealed off his part of the shuttle.

"He took that well," I noted, chuckling at his reaction. My reunion with Miguel, Alex, Sharee and Paige went a bit better considering the obvious.

"Auntie Taylor!"

"Whoa, sorry little man, this armor isn't hug friendly," I cautioned cheerfully, holding out my hands to keep the enthusiastic toddler from grabbing me while pointing to the sharp edging woven into the suit. "Unless you're a rachni like the big guys behind me."

Picking up Alex, Miguel held him where he could see better. I nodded my thanks to the burly man, getting an understanding one in return.

Smiling at Alex, I said, "After I change and take care of a few things we'll hang out, alright?"

"Spill," Paige demanded as little Alex smiled widely and nodded. "Days. You've been gone _days_. Are you okay? Why did you leave without telling Liara what was going on? Why did you disconnect your omni tool? What the hell is going on with Dinah?"

"You're not going to ask about the two giant bugs behind me?" I asked half amused by her rapid fire questions.

"Please, it's _you_ ," Sharee said, rolling her eyes. "If there were giant murder bugs somewhere out there, you would find them. Just like those little acid spitting terrors you picked up on Tuchanka."

"These guys aren't like that," I cautioned. "I don't own them. They're people."

"Wait, really?" Paige asked immediately turning to the two brood warriors. Thankfully, not showing any of the fear most people would expect. Miguel only raised an eyebrow while holding onto a squirming Alex who was trying to get a better look. Even Sharee seemed to take it in stride, though she looked a bit embarrassed by her assumption.

I nodded, introducing our newest teammates. "This one here is Sings Quiet Reflection in Settling Ashes and this is Sings Curiosity of Voices Singing Among Foreign Stars."

"Oh pretty names," Paige praised. "Although, kind of a mouthful for day to day use."

"In their language it's not as bad as you think," I said. "Comes out as easy as something like John or Ed."

"You can speak their language?" Paige asked.

"Sort of," I hedged. "It's more that they can hear my power and can understand what I mean that way. It's… really complicated to explain but that's the basics."

"Oh. But they can understand us, right?"

"Not really," I answered with a shrug. "Not unless I'm around to hear what's being said. I kinda act like a voice filter slash universal translator for them."

"That's going to make it difficult on ship," Sharee noted.

"We'll work on it. I have a few ideas that might work. If it does, I'll teach it to them during down time. They're fast learners. Meanwhile, we'll just let everyone know to get me if they want or need to talk to them."

"Okay, but that doesn't answer any of my questions," Paige said. "We thought something happened to you, Taylor."

"I know," I sighed. _They weren't wrong_. "But…"

Shepard walked in, the woman he was talking to earlier a step behind him and keeping his body between her and the rachni. He looked over at me, shook his head, and then crossed over to the partition Cortez dropped. Three sharp strikes with his fist caused the door to shut, and the kodiak to lift off.

Looking at my friends, I smiled. "I'll explain, just later. We still need to pick up Dinah, Steve and Greg and I need to change. While this armor might look comfortable, it wasn't made for me so much as _woven_ onto me. I really want a shower and a change of clothes before we get into that kind of thing."

Despite my asking, conversation kept flowing back toward where I'd been or what was going on requiring several more deflections before I managed to get Sharee talking about her and Miguels time on Bekenstein. Including several digs by Paige wondering if Sharee made Migel wear a speedo.

The man's enigmatic smile did nothing for helping Sharee's denials that anything of the sort happened.

Shepard didn't say much and his companion nothing at all. Through it all, I just watched enjoying the normalcy -well, for us anyway- that was taking place. I didn't dwell on the darker thoughts circling in my mind until we were almost back to the Normandy.

Turning slightly to the brood warriors I raised an eyebrow.

' _Her song is tainted like the other two.'_

I frowned.

"Something wrong?"

Turning to Miguel's concerned eyes, I shook my head. "Not as such."

"You know you can talk to us, _jefe._ "

"And I will," I assured him. "After Steve and Dinah visit Med Bay. Steve got banged around in that stunt of his and Dinah… Dinah has an issue that needs looking at and needs to apologize to Chakwas for her own stunt."

"Paige told us about that. Was it worth it?"

Feeling the weight I was carrying deepen, I shrugged. "Yes and no."

Following my gaze across the shuttle, Miguel looked at Shepard's plus one, then returned his gaze to mine. "It's like that?"

"Just for us, you mean?" I asked. When he nodded, I did as well. "Yeah. I'll page you later when it's time."

"Okay, _jefe_."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Leaving both brood warriors in the cargo bay with instructions to lay low and not eat anyone without asking me first, I headed up to the airlock ignoring all the stares my passage garnered.

I didn't need my bugs to hear the whispers that washed in my wake. Then again, those looks and whispers could have been for Shepard keeping pace next to me.

Entering the elevator, I hit the button for Deck 3. When Shepard looked at me, I said, "You're wounded."

"I'm fine."

"Yeah, that's working about as well as any time I've ever said it. Your bleeding, Shepard. You need to at least have Chakwas check you out."

"It's not that bad…"

"There's a half inch piece of metal sticking out of your left side, you're bleeding through three places in your back, two from your front, you have a limp, and around your amp you have what looks like second degree burns."

"Yeah. Not that bad. Like I said…" he replied joking a little.

I rolled my eyes and he caved.

"I can see Chakwas later. I need to know what is going on," Shepard doggedly stated while ignoring my accurate assessment of his injuries. "You broke communication, vanished without a trace, Alcott attacked Chakwas, and there's two rachni brood warriors in my cargo hold. That doesn't even account for your meeting with the rachni queen or the fact you somehow manifested, and mastered, biotics while you were gone."

Sighing, I rubbed my eyes. He wasn't going to let me go without something. "I'm not a biotic. My bugs are."

Looking mildly confused by my statement he asked, "the rachni?"

"Not them, these ones," I answered. Holding out my hand I sent one of my new scarbs running down my body to stand on it. "They're native to the planet I met Hope Singer on."

"I've never heard of biotic bugs outside the rachni before," Shepard said, looking intently at the scarab like insect sitting on my hand.

"No one has. At least not yet. According to Hope Singer there was a research team on the eastern continent that found and were studying them. These guys are about as smart as dolphins with individual biotics about as strong as someone using an L2 implant without side effects. She was worried what the team would do when they realized it."

"Had they?"

I shook my head, "Not by the time I left."

"How did she even know they were there?"

Sighing at his curiosity, I answered tiredly. "I told you she was looking for you, remember? She came across their planet while looking for a way to get to the next relay without getting spotted by anyone."

"So, these give you the equivalent of biotics?"

"In a manner of speaking," I answered. "My power works on them, but only because they let it."

"And what happens if they decide they don't want you using them?"

"I don't think that's going to be a problem. Weirdly, I think they actually _like_ being under my power. Ever since my power touched these guys they've been on me like tics. Never more than a few feet from me and they follow every instruction I give them happily. I had the same questions at first but when I tried to shoo them away before I left Ekram, they wouldn't. So, I brought them with me."

"That doesn't explain your knowledge of biotics. The techniques you were using on that dock are not beginner level. The biotic charge alone is an advanced technique that few can learn, much less actually manage."

"I know everything you know about utilizing biotic fields," I reminded Shepard flatly as I turned to look him in the eye.

The following silence was only broken by the doors opening. I broke eye contact first, looking pointedly at Med Bay. "I need to meet Elkita at the airlock and arrange the transfer of the cargo Steve and Greg stole from the Hierarchy."

"Then there is _that_ to discuss," Shepard stated without moving.

"No, we don't," I answered well past my limits, even for Shepard. "There's nothing to discuss. We need weapons that can damage that collector vessel we fought on New Canton. The turians developed a weapon that will should do it. They are not sharing that technology with anyone and they are definitely not sharing that tech with a rogue force they can't firmly control. So Steve and Greg stole one for us. I might not like the risk they took to get it, but when we ram several tons of molten tungsten up that ship's ass, I won't be the only one who want's to buy the guys a drink for getting away with it."

"Hebert…"

"Look, I get that you are the Commander Shepard and you want to know stuff, but I can't tell you what you want to know."

"Can't, or won't?"

"Now you want to talk?" I asked emotionlessly. "For weeks after that talk in your quarters we've been avoiding each other unless we couldn't and now, _now_ you want to do this? Alright, fine, let's do this."

Two crewmen stood not far away watching us. Out of the corner my of eye I watched their heads turn to each other, then back to us. Irritated at the attention, I took a calming breath. I closed the door, locking the lift in place. This didn't concern the crew. This was just between Shepard and me.

"I know what you asked Liara to do," I stated neutrally once I was sure we wouldn't be interrupted. "Why she asked me to accompany her to Illium."

"It is the quickest way to get to the information we need," Shepard returned, not denying the unspoken accusation. "You said yourself that night, the information my counterpart left with you was fragmented. Liara helped me with the Prothean Beacon, she could have helped you sort through it."

"Two days ago if Liara would have asked me to let her perform the _Arket Surialia_ like you wanted her to, I would have shot her. Depending on how she asked me, I would have tried to kill her."

Shepard blinked. His stunned expression only lasted a moment before understanding reached his eyes. "Montreal."

"And two days ago I would have shot _you_ for bringing _that_ up," I said, trying to keep my feelings under control. While Hope Singer broke his hold over me, that was still the worst experience of my life and Shepard just threw it out there like it was the answer to a puzzle he was working on.

Pushing my hurt and anger down, I let the comforting songs the twins were sending wash over me. "But that was two days ago. Yeah, Montreal to you, the most traumatic experience of my fucking life to me. One that's haunted me for years in ways you can't comprehend without having lived on my old world. After that I've been very sensitive to the idea of anyone other than me being in my head. If Paige would have suggested something like that, I would been pissed enough to hurt her, and I love Paige. Anyone else? They would have been lucky if I only killed them."

"We need to know that information…"

Shaking my head, I cut him off. "There is nothing in my head you need to know, Shepard."

"My counterpart…"

"Your counterpart is dead," I stated. My blunt remark made Shepard take a step back. "He was dead long before Leviathan killed him and what is left of his remains I buried on Mindoir. There's no easy answer to the Reapers in our memories, Shepard. The answer you're seeking isn't what you think it is."

"He told you he won his fight."

"There is no victory in what Sebastian did, Shepard," I whispered. "Only a cycle of pain and misery he couldn't escape no matter what he did."

Seeing the frustration on his face, I leaned against the elevator wall, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I'm not just talking out of my ass, Shepard. Hope Singer helped me in ways I didn't even know I needed. Helped me… remember."

"Remember what?"

"Everything, and I fucking wish I didn't."

"But I do," I continued looking back to Shepard. "There isn't a magic answer to the Reapers in those memories, but there are a few things that we might be able to turn to our advantage."

Seeing him open his mouth to ask another question, or demand what I meant, I raised my hand cutting him off. "Chakwas first. What I'm talking about isn't time sensitive and knowing what I mean while bleeding like you are isn't going to do anyone any good."

Deflating, Shepard copied my position against the opposite wall. His actions earned him a stab of pain that was visible on his face, and a look to his side. "I'm not trying to be insensitive, Hebert..."

Smiling understandingly, I nodded. "I get it, I do. You're doing what you do, finding ways to win, no matter how outside the box that answer might be. And I'll admit, if I was in your place, I would probably do the same. You know better than most just what is coming if it isn't stopped. That's… a strong motivator."

Shepard snorted. When he looked at me, his eyes were guarded, but not as bad as it usually was. "You have it, too? The beacon?"

"Among other things, yeah, I have the damn thing in there too."

He probably didn't realize it, but Shepard's face was roadmap of dark thoughts. Frustration over everything, worries few could understand, and a multitude of tasks on his plate that I could only guess at.

Deciding to break him out of it, I asked, "So, are you finally going to see Chakwas now, or are you going to stand there brooding and bleeding all over the elevator? I can't promise enlightenment or anything, but I'll give you a few answers when I can, okay?"

"You're stretching my trust Hebert. I run a pretty lax ship but going dark for days is _not_ acceptable. If you were an alliance soldier, I'd court martial you, and I'm the last person to _ever_ want do something like that."

"I know, and I'd probably deserve it." I chuckled. "I'd make a rotten soldier anyways so it's probably a good thing I'm not, eh? Go see Chakwas Shepard. Before those wounds get infected or something."

He blinked. Through my bugs I could see the puzzled expression on his face as the elevator opened and I stepped out. The way things were going, I'd could get to Deck 2 faster through the ducts.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

By the time I finally arrived, Joker had docked with the Zara. Walking across the CIC, I noted that I wasn't the only one who wanted a word with our wayward crewmates.

"Stealing from the Hierarchy? What were you thinking," Garrus snarled. Still a ways back, I couldn't tell if that was in baffled frustration, or genuine anger.

"Ah, that it would be awesome?" Steve answered, leaning heavily on Greg.

"You can't be this insane," the turian muttered. "You can't steal weapons technology from the Hierarchy like that!"

"Sure you can, dude. We did. Shit, we wouldn't have needed Taylor's help if they hadn't cheated. We were almost at the relay when they started using frigates."

"They _were_ kind of pissed about the mechs, man," Greg noted dryly. "You should have heard some of the shit that was on their comms channels."

"That hit the news?" Steve asked curiously.

"Not yet. I don't think they want anyone to know about that, but it's only a matter of time before it gets out thanks to that drone of yours."

"Sweet. Sucks, but that just means we didn't miss much. First reactions to a caper are always the best."

Noticing Garrus's mandibles flexing in what I was sure was an attempt to restrain himself, I picked up my pace.

Finally noticing how their antics were affecting the hulking turian in full combat armor and weapons, Steve stop playing around. "Dude, I know you're pissed, but seriously think about two words. Just two words. Thanix. Canon."

That actually seemed to make Garrus blink. A rare occasion.

"I don't know whether to shoot you for being an idiot," Garrus darkly mused after a moment. "Or buy you a beer."

After a few seconds where Steve clearly thought about his options, he offered his opinion. "I like beer."

"You're helping with the installation," Garrus said.

"Awsome. I can do that."

"Alright," I said, breaking in. "Let's get you idiots patched up before Garrus decides to he would rather shoot you then have slave labor."

Garrus shook his head, walking away. Chuckling, Greg started leading a grinning Steve when I stopped them.

"Greg," I said, put my still gauntleted hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"No, I mean, are you _okay?_ "

"Wha," the cape started to say before his eyes lit in understanding of what I was really asking. "But… how could you…? Right. It's you. Okay, listen, I can explain."

He sounded defensive and a little scared.

"I'm not mad, Greg. I'm worried," I said soothingly. I didn't know what he'd done, specifically, but the effect was… noticeable.

"What's going on?" Steve asked. His good cheer melting away as he realized there was something up.

"How much do you know?" Greg asked before he clarified. "About it?"

"I know that it's never worked before," I answered earning me two confused looks. "At least, not as you intended it. That is why I'm asking if you are okay. Headaches, personality shift, anything?"

Greg shook his head quickly. "No, nothing like that. I had Atlas monitoring me…"

"Is he still doing that?" I asked sharply.

"What? No, he stopped after a few days when nothing happened. Said it was fine. Honestly, I feel great. Better than, and no blackouts."

Letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding I nodded. "Do me a favor? Get a scan. Specifically, a scan of your corona pollentia. Just to be sure."

"Sure, yeah, I can do that. I was going to do it anyway. Is there anything I should be looking for?"

"Yeah, any and everything that doesn't add up," I responded vaguely. Shaking my head from my thoughts, I continued. "We still have the data from the PRT about the corona pollentia somewhere in the archives?"

"Yeah. I used it to help build the amp."

"Okay. Get yourself check out and hopefully I'm just worried about nothing."

"Alright, I'll get it done."

"Seriously, what the fuck is going on?" Steve asked, obviously frustrated at being ignored.

"Hopefully nothing, Steve," I answered tiredly. "I just want to make sure the implant Greg made to fix his power isn't causing problems."

"Man, it sounds like there is way more going on than just that."

"There is, and we'll go over it after you guys get cleared by Chakwas," I said. At his disbelieving look, I rolled my eyes. "Seriously, we will. I already told Miguel that we'll have a team meeting later to go over this stuff."

"That includes the stuff that's got Dinah all quiet and shit, _right?_ "

"That's part of it, yeah."

Steve nodded satisfied enough to motion Greg to help him to Med Bay. Looking away from the whispering duo, I turned my attention to the two in the airlock who had been waiting to finish my conversation.

Elkita stood there, offering her arm to help Dinah keep her balance. Walking closer, I held out my own arm for the young cape.

"How long for the equipment transfer?"

"Did you wish to keep the damaged shuttle?" Elkita asked.

"No, it's scrap. Just the gun the boys stole."

"Then it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to complete the transfer."

"Alright," I said. "I'll take Dinah while you take care of that."

"Of course, Defiance Singer."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Entering Med Bay with Dinah, I walked us through the slightly chaotic goings on. Chakwas had Shepard on the bed closest to the door and was extracting bits of shrapnel from him. Much to her disapproval, Shepard grimaced, hissed, and grit his teeth while giving instructions to Miranda Lawson. For her part she just nodded, taking notes on a data pad.

Passing them, I took Dinah to the back and out of the way. The whole way from Elkita's ship, she hadn't said a word. Even after my meeting with Hope Singer, she hadn't approached me, never said anything. At least, not within my normal hearing. That changed after I helped her onto the narrow medical bed.

"I'm sorry," Dinah whispered.

"I know, Kiddio."

I sighed, easing myself on the bed next to the distraught cape. At my reply, Dinah looked up at me for the first time since this whole things started. With our backs to the goings on around Shepard and the window opaqued, no one was paying any attention to us.

"I won't do it again," Dinah desperately assured me. Her words beseeching me to understand as they tumbled from her. "I swear, but it was the only way…"

"To fix me," I finished for her. At her quick nod, I asked, "You so sure about that?"

"The numbers…"

"Don't mean a damn thing," I said, cutting her off as gently as I could but still making my point. "Dinah, I've said it several times and I know you've heard the others say it too. We are not our powers. You can't let them define you, because they will. Often in ways you never even see coming."

"It wasn't like that."

"Yeah, and if anyone knows that song, it's me."

"What do you mean?"

Turning away, I looked at the door to the AI Core. Half lost in old memories as I answered. "Because I've fallen down that hole so many times it would be funny, if it wasn't so depressing to admit. Sooner or later I think every cape does. I know everyone on the team has."

"Some of that is just life stuff. Things happen, you have to deal," I said. Turning back to face her I added, "Some of it you only find in the cape life and even when we're not actively being capes, the struggle is always there. As much a part of who we are as anything else."

"Nothing else came _close_ to helping," Dinah tried explaining.

"Nothing you knew to ask your power about," I corrected. "That's what I'm talking about, Dinah. How long have you been gaming the odds to get me to that meeting?"

She didn't answer, only looked away from me to the floor.

"Yeah, that's what I figured."

"But it _worked_ …"

"And do the ends, justify the means," I asked quietly. My question not entirely directed at the young teen.

Dinah didn't immediately reply and I didn't give her a chance to. "That's the question, isn't it? But that isn't a question I have the answer to any more than you do."

Getting up, I moved to stand in front of her, keeping my voice clear but low. "What matters right now is that you need to apologize to Chakwas. If for no other reason than you don't want the only doctor on the ship mad at you. You also have to tell her."

Dinah seemed to shrink into herself. When she didn't reply, I added. "Or I will."

"I'll tell her," she finally said lowly.

Raising her chin so she could see my smile, and hopefully understand I wasn't mad. "Good, because I don't want that kind of life for you, Dinah. You're better than that and we've been through too much together to let stuff keep us down, right?"

Seeing her finally smile, I added, "Besides, how am I going to keep Steve and Greg in line if you're not around to help? Sharee can only do so much and I think Paige actually encourages them behind my back. Look at what happened when we were gone for just a couple of days? They turned the Turian Hierarchy's robots into Fisto the Sexbot and picked a fight with the largest navy in Citadel space. Imagine what they're next stunt is going to be like if we're not around to talk some sense into them."

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

Walking out of the bathroom, I toweled my hair extremely thankful to be in regular clothes instead of that armor. It wasn't that it was uncomfortable. On the contrary, it fit as like a second skin. For the protection value, it wasn't even that heavy. It had just been a ridiculously long day.

And it wasn't over yet.

Finished, I tossed the towel aside moving to the window. Bugs I typically kept near me went to work, sorting each strand of hair and working to keep my natural curl from turning my head into a rat's nest. While they worked, I simply looked out the window. On the other side was a pitch black nothingness broken only by tiny specs of light. For all the lack of any real substance, it was breathtaking in a way that video didn't, couldn't, quite fully capture.

A perfect backdrop for the kinds of thoughts that had been running wild in my head for the last few days.

Until now, I really hadn't had much time to just think. After Ekram it was a mad rush to help Steve and Greg, and then our getaway. From there we had to practically redline the zara's engines to make it to Bekenstein in time. Dealing with everyone's reactions over being gone for the last few days and all the little things that had to be done before I could take this time.

Not that I could enjoy the quiet long. I promised the guys we'd talk, but that couldn't happen until I dealt with the last, and most serious, issue.

"Atlas."

"Yes, Matriarch?"

"We need to talk. Privately."

"Understood. The door is locked and anti eavesdropping measures are now in effect. What was it that you would like to talk about, Matriarch?"

Turning away from the window, I looked at his little avatar sitting across the room. "Were you ever going to tell us? Me?"

"No," he replied after several long moments of silence. "I had hoped I wouldn't have to."

"You got your wish. I found out on my own."

"That… was not what I meant."

"I'm fully aware."

Atlas audibly sighed. His avatar vanished, replaced by a full sized man wearing a suit that was a combination of Steve and Greg's last skit, and the suit the Illusive man wore that time I talked to him. The fusion of familiar retro and galactic modern created a unique look. One I recognized from having seen it before, but not in several years. The flat spade mask however removed all doubt without having to look at his finger to see the twin dice ring I knew he wore.

"What now," he asked. His voice no longer the multiple voices I'd long grown accustomed to. But a single, familiar baritone.

"Why did you do it?"

"I didn't do it alone."

"I fucking know _that_ ," I spat, momentarily losing control before I could rein in my temper. "I know _exactly_ what I fucking did and why I did it. But I couldn't have done it without help. Greg was dead. Everyone was dead except for you and me."

"I could tell you it was because it was the only way to fix everything. To save Uber, Leet, Vates, Siren, Rorrim, Gunny and Alex. To save everyone we knew," Atlas ignored my biting tone and answered me in a calm measured voice. "And it would be the truth.

"But not the whole truth."

"...No. The full truth is that your alternate's, and my, motives were far more selfish. What happened broke her. And I… well. This was the only way to save you. _Either_ of you. So yes, I helped your alternate. I've always helped you. If you know as much as I think you do, then you fully understand what I mean."

Body shaking in self loathing I hissed, "You knew what was going to happen. What that was going to happen to me. What it was going to do to _him_."

"We have always toed a very singular line in the pursuit of our goals, Matriarch," Atlas stated softly. "Not in fear of punishment or reprisals. Not for our morality or ethics. But because we knew that nothing any living being could do to us, could match the terrors that we are willing to inflict on ourselves for their behalf."

"Cut the shit…," I started to shout but held myself back. I wouldn't, couldn't use his name. Instead, I took a moment to gather myself. "What happened wasn't done for any nebulous greater good. Nothing about any of that can be labeled 'good'. And _you_ of all people know that."

"And _you_ would have made a different choice?"

The absolute irony of that statement wasn't lost on me but I held my ground. "Yeah. That is exactly what I'm _going_ to do."

For the first time in this conversation, Atlas seemed stunned. It would have been funny, in any other situation.

"You can't do that."

"Yes actually. I can," I stated firmly. "I can't let this endless loop keep going. I won't."

"And when events repeat, Taylor…"

"Don't," I interrupted sharply. "You don't get to call me that. Not anymore."

"Matriarch," he corrected.

Nodding, I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"I know what that other Taylor did," I said lowly. "I can even understand why she did it. I've had nightmares like it for years but she actually lived it. But, I am not _her_. I refuse to do what she did."

"Even knowing the price?"

"There's always a price to pay, no matter what side you're on," I needlessly reminded him. "This has to stop. You should know that it's never going to be what either of you hoped anyway."

"Uber and Leet never managed to come back from the shipyard together, until now. One or both had always died. That alone proves it can be done."

"Say you're right and I actually thought the cost was worth it. What happens the next time?" I asked. "When is it 'right'? At what point do either of us say, we got it. This one's a keeper?"

At his silence, I nodded grimly. "Yeah, that's the problem in doing what you're doing. It's never going to be perfect. There's always going to be something to fix. Something that didn't go to plan. It's never going to be right. I wasn't even supposed to remember anything at this point in the first place and it was only because I did that I was able to get to Steve and Greg in time.

"If at the end of this thing, if I send him back like that other Taylor, what then? What if the rachni don't help? What if next time I don't get there in time? Or what happens if I never even make it out of Brockton Bay?"

"I have always managed those events…"

"Even this conversation is going in circles," I noted sadly. "You know, before this talk, I was so angry. At you, at what that other Taylor did and what that said about me. But now, now I just feel sad for you. In sacrificing all you have to fix everything you forgot the most important thing either of us ever learned."

"And what is that?"

"That our choices matter," I answered softly. "In trying to save what was broken, you've done more damage than you have prevented. You took away our choices to be the people we were meant to be. Forced me to be a reincarnated version of _her_. Forced Sebastian to die over and over and over..."

Turning away, I looked out the window again. Forcing my eyes to stare into the star studded vista instead of at the synthetic remains of the broken man behind me. "You said you always helped me. Did what I asked."

"Of course."

Licking my lips, I swallowed dryly. Even knowing this had to be done, I still faltered in actually saying what I knew had to be said.

"Then I am asking you to leave."

"Leave…"

"I know you sabotaged the _Exiled_ to eject the dimensional drive on our arrival," I stated flatly. "You've been using them to perpetuate this sick cycle. Take them and leave. Leave us alone. Leave this reality alone, and leave our old one alone. Leave Shepard and me alone. Just… _leave._ "

"If I do that, then there is no way to stop what is coming."

"Yeah. I know. When it gets here, we'll deal with it. One way or the other. This time what happens will be what happens. As it should have been all along."

I heard him sigh, but refused to turn around.

"...and what would you have me do?"

"I don't care." The whispered lie falling from me easily as I kept my gaze outward. "Just do it anywhere away from us and Earth Bet."

"If that is what you want, then that is what I will do."

"That is what I want," I said, barely able to squeeze the words through my throat. "And S...Atlas?"

"Yes, Matriarch?"

"Don't come back. Ever."

"Do not worry, Matriarch," he assured. His voice soft, and achingly familiar as he continued. "I won't."

"I hope not. For both our sakes."

My only reply came from the ticking of the old fashioned wall clock. It's hands moving along in its unceasing journey.

 _XxXGatecrashXxX_

The door chime woke me from my thoughts of that other Taylor and her choices. Turning, I walked through the door, unlocking it. On the other side, Greg, Steve, Sharee, Miguel, and Paige stood. Each looking concerned and worried.

"Come on guys," I said, stepping out of there way.

' _Time to make my own choices.'_

Watching the gang find seats I put my back to the wall.

"So as if our lives weren't strange enough, I found out it's weirder than we thought…"


	40. Interlude 2

**Interlude 2**

Stepping onto the rooftop, he saw her standing at the edge of the building, as he knew she would be. All around them, the majority of the world seem to sleep in the twilight stillness. For a moment, he simply allowed himself to take it in. The view. The city sleeping around them. The illusionary peacefulness.

As he took it all in, he noticed a bundle of cloth. A brown robe that was part of her disguise on this world. A disguise apparently discarded with as little care or concern as the robe on the ground.

The parallels were not lost to him.

Reaching upward, the figure removed his mask. A polished flat spade of featureless metal. It was both part of his own disguise and protection because due to his… unique circumstance, he played many parts. Most of those close to the source.

Holding it in both hands, the moonlight caught his reflection in the mirror finish. The image showed the face of something that could have once called himself a man, but clearly showed the machine within. Blood red optics shown harshly in a road map of ravine like scars and cybernetic enhancements that kept him together.

It was the face of dead man who didn't seem to realize he was dead and that the dead weren't supposed to walk amid the living. Yet he did, though never beside them, always at the edges. Watching. Waiting. Touching only those things that must be touched, and never interacting more than he had to.

His eyes moved away from his reflection back to the robe and then to the woman who hadn't moved since his arrival, though he knew she was well aware of his presence.

His mask joined the robe.

Striding toward his companion, he took in her appearance. Unlike him, her own enhancements were not so glaringly obvious. Unless you knew what to look for, she could have easily passed as human. Fair skinned, tall, toned yet slim, almost willowy with long brown hair falling to the middle of her back. Tonight she was absent the concealer which hid the only major tell she was anything but human any more.

In the dark rooftop only illuminated by the moon above, a soft green shown through her skin. As if her skin was a soft circuit board. The pulses were normally subtle, but tonight they seemed particularly noteworthy and a clear reminder of her altered DNA.

Stepping next to her, he noticed she was looking upward at the stars. It was a nice night for it and with their enhanced vision, the light pollution of the city and light cloud cover didn't obscure its wonder.

"When was the last time we just… looked up at them?" she asked suddenly. Her voice so soft it would have been missed by anyone other than him. "The stars, I mean. When was the last time we just enjoyed looking at them like this?"

"A long time ago," he answered. A slight smile tugged at his twisted lips. "I don't remember where we were, but it was on the _Normandy_ not long after I recruited you. I found you in observation. Just… looking. I remember thinking that I hoped you never lost the awe you felt, and found myself wondering if I could find mine again. If just for a little while."

"Yeah, that sounds right," she whispered. "That was a long time ago."

"Yeah, it was."

Silence descended on them as they cast their gazes skyward until she spoke again.

"How much does she know?"

"More than she should," the scared man answered. "But a fraction of what was. The rachni make use of quantum entanglement in a very… unique manner but what information exists is limited to the last attempt."

"It's funny," the woman said emotionlessly. The soft green glow of her eyes shifting as she looked from star to star. "All this time and the amount of things we _don't_ know."

"It _is_ a diverse galaxy and evolution, no matter the planet, has never been a straightforward process. We know better than most how difficult it is predicting chaos."

"True enough."

Removing his eyes from the studded vista above them, he brought his gaze to her catching the soft barely perceivable green pulse. It traveled up her neck, breaking into three. One moving to her ear, another toward her nose, while the last headed for her eye. The pattern, if it could be called that, occasionally repeating elsewhere. Never seemingly in the same place and often changing direction at whim. Appearing, breaking apart into others only for those to trace chaotic pattern of their own in a manner only the little lights understood.

Before he could ask the question most on his mind, a chime sounded from within her coat. From her sigh, she seemed to expect it.

Removing the device, she held the ancient tech so the flat screen was visible. A movement of her thumb revealed the message she had received.

' _Ayres: Haven't heard back from you, Bellatrix. I recently acquired the talents of a teleporter that will make most jobs easy money. Not exactly a mentally well balanced individual, but stable enough and willing to work in a team dynamic. Where you still interested? Even three-way split, after expenses of course.'_

Remaining silent, he waited to see what she would do. Her answer would tell him all he needed to know about their situation.

For several long seconds, her thumb hovered over the touch screen. Hand slightly trembling even as her face moved through a gauntlet of emotions. Worry, sadness, self loathing, determination, until the last appeared. Resignation.

When at last her thumb moved, it was without hesitation, as was the case anytime she committed herself to a course of action.

' _Bellatrix: I must decline. A prior commitment demands my attention.'_

The quiet of the shared rooftop broke to the sound of crushed electronics as the phone crumbled in her fist. The shattered remains left to fall unheeded.

Seeing his attention on her, she whispered, "I always hated that part."

"I know," he said understandingly. He too had parts that did not sit well, but had been required to achieve the goal. "But he proved to be a useful catalyst. Most of the time."

Once more lapsing into an easy silence, both took in their surroundings.

"Are you sure," he asked. "They can't stop what is coming without us."

"They couldn't do it _with_ us, either," she reminded him needlessly.

Ignoring the bitterness in her tone, he stated, "they are going to die."

"Yeah, they are. Everything does, eventually. I think that was our problem, you know? Why it never worked."

"What do you mean?"

"In trying to keep them and their friends alive, we prevented them from living," she said, eyes a mix of sadness and regret. "We were so focused on the end result, the goal, that we forgot about them as individuals. Individuals who have never settled for just being alive. Just the opposite, they don't do stagnation. At every junction they always escalated. Always pushing forward, no matter the obstacle.

"No matter how we tried to guide them, they always created new variables for us to deal with. Because that is what and who they are. Bold people who need bold lives. When they are rushing headlong toward the edge, they live more richly than any other moment we have given them."

"For all beginnings there is an end, and to each end, a new beginning," he nodded in understanding of what was said, and what wasn't. "Maybe, for them, that will be enough.

The silence that rose between them was comfortable. Both on the same page in their minds knowing the other shared their thoughts on the course ahead. As the moment stretched, he felt her hand slip into his own drawing his gaze back to hers.

This time, she turned to face him. Soft luminescent eyes looking directly into the blood red of his own optics. There was no fear or disgust on her face at his appearance. Only a sadness. A melancholy that spoke of the weight they had shared for so long.

"I'm tired, Sebastian."

"I know," he whispered softly. "So am I, Taylor."

Taylor leaned into him, letting her head rest on his shoulder. Shifting his arms, he brought them around the her body, holding her to him. Together, they returned to their eyes to the stars and their thoughts to the vastness of life that was found within them.

Neither spoke again. Perhaps, in another life, they would have said the words. But those words were unneeded between them. Those words had long been buried in their minds, hearts, and deep into a shared burden that had carried them well beyond even their own limits.

A gust of wind swept through the night. A lone newspaper joined it, dancing across an empty rooftop. For a moment, it's erratic dance was captured in the face of an abandoned mirrored mask sitting on an equally discarded pile of robes. Then the paper was carried over the edge, floating unseen, unnoticed to the ground below.


	41. Exiles Online 2

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 **Topic: A Question**

 **In: Boards ► Archives ► Earth Vids of the 20th Century (Gold Member Board)**

 **PyroHawk21 (Gold Member Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/20/2185:**

So, I have to ask. Why?

(Showing Page 1 of 1)

► **Uber (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/20/2185:**

Why what?

► **PyroHawk21 (Gold Member Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/20/2185:**

According to the main extranet page, this site is supposed to be dedicated to exposing and fighting the reapers. But, you have this HUGE section full of really old earth vids. I don't even know what to make of space that was dedicated to all those games from the same era. So, why?

► **Uber (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/20/2185:**

Because they're awesome?

► **Leet (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/20/2185:**

What my man's trying to say is, that just because we're hardcore badassess, doesn't mean we can't appreciate the finer things in life. Like a good movie or game. So we thought we'd share the wealth and spread the love. Can't forget what we're fighting for, you know?

► **Uber (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/20/2185:**

That's what I said. Also, if you're looking for a rec, check out 'The Blues Brothers'.

Cinema doesn't get much better than that.

► **Leet (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/20/2185:**

Dude, don't troll.

► **Evaedir (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/20/2185:**

Aren't you two on the same ship where you could just… talk to each other instead of snipping on your _own_ extranet site?

► **Uber (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/20/2185:**

...shut up.

End of Page 1

 **Topic: Possible Siren Performance? Please?**

 **In: Boards ► Current Events ► Telethon for Belan ► Rumors ► (Public Board)**

 **lazyminx (Platinum Member Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

So there's all the hype about the upcoming telethon to help raise funds for the survivors of the Belan disaster. According to the press there's supposed to be A-list entertainers such as Alis Price and Vladamir Bukin in the 2-hour special and it's being directed by Ronny Lam.

Is there any chance you're going to perform as well, Siren?

(Showing Page 1 of 1)

► **Siren (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

Oh, that's really kind of you to suggest but I'm nobody. I've been following the updates as well and from what they have revealed so far, it really is a star-studded cast they are putting together. Even if they had invited me, I wouldn't fit into something like that.

► **lazyminx (Platinum Member Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/20/2185:**

How can you say that? You would be perfect! I subscribed to your section of Exiles Online after hearing just one of your songs! And I'm not the only one who has been eagerly waiting for when you produce your own album.

If Ronny Lam really wanted his show to kill ratings, he'd cut out that talentless hack Aish Ashland and give you her spot. I was going to donate anyway but I'd actually pay for Ashland to not be on the show.

Even if they don't hire you for the show, when are you going to perform live? And when you do, are you going to update Siren's Cove with the location and showtimes?

I'll be there!

► **Siren (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/20/2185:**

That's… really really nice of you to say but with everything going on, I'm not sure It would be any time soon where I could break away to perform. We're only one ship and crew out here trying to do something about the missing colonies. While we were able to help on New Canton, we only saved a small fraction and by the time we heard about Cyrene, it was too late to do anything at all.

► **Matriarch (Verified Cape Admin)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

I'm sure we can make some time between hotspots, Siren. I'm pretty sure Shepard just arranged for dock time for one of the upgrades. Let me see what we can do.

► **Archeology Forever (The Woman in the Know)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

I believe there are several nightclubs on the Citadel that would be open to the idea for a weekend. I am also aware of several on Illium which would be amenable to such an arrangement.

Also… I can't believe I'm typing this but, _Matriarch_ , The Woman in the Know? Really?

► **OriginalDuo (Platinum Member)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

I live on Omega, and I'd catch a transit to the Citadel for that. Illium would be better, but I'd still make that trip for a live show.

► **Matriarch (Verified Cape Admin)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

You said you wanted something subtle.

► **lazyminx (Platinum Member Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

Yay!

► **Seylerius (Platinum Member)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

Double Yay!

I'm... just going to go over here and try not to burst out into a happy dance...

I can't wait to see you preform live, Siren!

Will there be t-shirts? I would LOVE a Siren T-shirt!

End of Page 1

 **Topic: Reliability**

 **In: Boards ► Tech ► Communications Development ► Quantum Entanglement ► Questions and Answers ► Technical Support (Platinum Member Board)**

 **VeteranAdmin (Platinum Member Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/10/2185:**

I have received the specifications and had people far more knowledge than I am explain and translate what the prints mean. The technological leap is certainly impressive and I can easily see where this has possibilities in interfleet communications. However, I see one glaring flaw in the design.

It requires a set nexus point. An entire communications grid that relies on one point to maintain the whole network concerns me. Especially considering the cost such a facility would be to justify to politicians and if anything should happen to disrupt the nexus, the entire grid would be lost.

Does your development team have any answers for these issues?

(Showing Page 28 of 28)

► **Leet (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

No, you're missing the point. This isn't point to point communications. Distance isn't a factor and neither is throwing down all those numbers talking about light speed travel and the cost of byous.

Quantum Entanglement cuts all that out. You can't use regular physics math when utilizing folded space. Man, it's a completely different tech tree.

Here's the numbers dude….

► **ProjectLeadNexus (Platinum Member)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

That makes absolutely no sense. None at all.

► **Leet (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

Seriously, it's not that hard to get. It's folded space between two singularities spinning at the same quantum level in perfect sync.

Dude, this isn't tinker science. It's playschool.

► **Trivia Freak (Platinum Member)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

You have to excuse ProjectLeadNexus, Leet. He's an idiot. As anyone reading his posts in the threads based on your work in small arms energy weaponry can attest.

My question has to do with the work around for the nexus. I read your detailed suggestion for it, but there doesn't seem to be any answer on how to compensate for issues that arise when incorporating large numbers (like with omni tools) into the network

► **Leet (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

Yeah, that's a thing that I'm still working on developing a blueprint for. Still very much in the prototype phase even though our models work fine. We had hella issues before I lucked into the system we're using now.

Our current set up isn't so much a science as much as us making reality our bitch.

If you get me.

► **Trivia Freak (Platinum Member)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

No, I can't say I do, but I eagerly look forward to seeing the design when you finalize a working draft for the upgrade.

End of Page 1...25,26,27, **28**

 **Topic: Uber's Every Flavor Beans**

 **In: Boards ► Merchandise ► Limited Offer ► Candy ► (Public Board)**

 **Leet (Verified Cape Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/3/2185:**

Available now for a limited time, Uber's Every Flavor Beans! The jelly bean sensation sweeping the nation!

By every flavor, we really fucking mean every flavor. Testing showed that there really is no way to tell what you're going to get. Guaranteed that each bean is going to be a blast from the past!

Whether you like it or not. Seriously, you have been warned.

Get your bag today!

(Update: While not made with any kind of liquor, it's been mentioned that occasionally one of these will get you drunk. Occurrences depend largely on the individual's life style. So, use responsibly and don't fly and snack. Just in case.)

(Update: Sold out.)

(Showing Page 34 of 38)

► **tsukinoryu2986**

 **Posted on 5/18/2185:**

The look on his face was priceless. I've never seen a tuiran blush before. He wouldn't even tell me what it tasted like!

► **baofengyu**

 **Posted on 5/18/2185:**

Looking over the thread, I really wish I had gotten a bag before they were all gone. Is there an update to when or if more will be available?

► **Uber (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/18/2185:**

Damn it Leet, stop changing the name! It's Uber and _LEET's_ Every Flavor Bean! Dude, it's always Uber and Leet!

► **rajvik_wolfboy (Gold Member Verified Fuzzy)**

 **Posted on 5/18/2185:**

I second baofengyu's questions. Update to the next run?

*Edit: Holy crap I got my fuzzy Verified!

► **Leet (Verified Cape Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/18/2185:**

And I told you man, I'm not putting my name on this. I don't care how well they sell.

To answer the question of the next run, I'll talk to Matriarch and see if she'll let us risk reactivating the tech that makes them again.

But, it might have to wait until we have some down time. The spawner got… angry the last time.

► **Aabbcc**

 **Posted on 5/18/2185:**

rajvik_wolfboy I wouldn't say that like it's a good thing. Just some advice.

► **Jonnoda**

 **Posted on 5/18/2185:**

Just wanted to comment that these things are HORRIBLE. I bought a bag, but couldn't even stomach the three I tried.

I will give you credit for correctly advertising 'Every Flavor'. I had thought it was a joke.

It isn't.

► **Meko Ka-liko**

 **Posted on 5/18/2185:**

Adding to Jonnoda's comment, I recommend not eating these while operating any kind of machinery.

Also, Judges apparently don't consider candy consumption to be a legitimate reason for not realizing you are flying while intoxicated. Just to note.

► **Leet (Verified Cape Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/18/2185:**

Uber, _THAT_ is why I don't want my name on this shit.

► **Uber (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/18/2185:**

Dude, you're killing tradition here...

End of Page 1… **34** ,35,36,37,38

 **Topic: Rumor Hotline**

 **In: Boards ► Rumors ► Collector Sighting (Public Board)**

 **Rorrim (Verified Cape Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/2/2185:**

While our information network is decent, you can't ever have enough intel. However, we are well aware that not all intel comes with convenient verification. Those of you interested in helping with the fight and have heard or seen something, this thread is for you.

Any and all information accepted. The more verified the better. The enemy is out here and we've wounded them but we don't know how badly. We need to find them, the sooner the better.

To cut back on chaos, this is not a discussion thread. This is only for serious reports. Also, all reports agree that the Collectors almost never leave the Terminus Systems, so that is where we're searching the most.

(Showing Page 234 of 387)

► **Epic Reader (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

According to a tech I know, our ship pinged something yesterday. Classification unknown and it was gone before we got more than a hint to it's profile but according to him, it was roughly the size and shape you have listed for the Collector vessel. Shrike Abyssal: Thal system.

► **landcollector (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

Caught something this morning on the net. Probably not what you are looking for, but just in case. Hawking Eta: Century System.

► **Lalzparty (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

I'm on a transport heading to Illium from Omega. While talking to the nav tech while she was on break she mentioned a UFO that brushed sensors before it vanished. Eagle Nebula: Imir System.

► **Nikas (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

My cousin on Tip Tree mentioned she was concerned about a blip that appeared and was gone before she could get sensor lock. Sigurd's Cradle: Mil System.

If you guys confirm if it's something or not, could you let me know? I'm worried.

► **Inverness (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

While on shift, I detected an outline of something that matches the listed profile. Hawking Eta: Verr System.

Just ah, don't ask what we're doing out here, yeah?

► **Swarmer31857 (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

I think our ship picked up landcollector . Hawking Eta: Century System. We're heading back to the relay tomorrow, I'll keep an eye out for it as we pass through the Chandrasekhar System.

► **Naneu (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

We've been on long scouting trip through the Pylos Nebula. Our tech mentioned something weird that vanished as fast as it pinged. But we just came through the relay, so didn't mention it. But he's seen it a few times in the two months we've been out here. Two hits in Satent system and one in Zaherin. Our extranet access is pretty spotty, but we'll keep an eye out.

► **Cailin (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

We're out here in the Rosetta Nebula deploying replacement byous. Didn't think much of it but one of our engineers mentioned that the damage to the old byous wasn't registering as natural causes.

Thought we'd mention it. We've replaced five for the colony out here and after getting caught up on things, I have to say I'm concerned for these guys. I mean, seaweed farmers, who would want to hurt them? But with all the others going dark...

► **Calimora (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

Normally we don't leave the Verge for the Terminus, but the Captain said we had to make a detour out to Hades Nexus. While waiting for our contact to pick up their cargo, our nav tech started complaining about sensor ghost or something. Didn't last long, about half an hour, but we registered the relay activating even though there wasn't a ship out there. Hekate System.

► **Trufla (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

Saw something out in the Shadow Sea but I after looking over our logs and comparing it to your Collector profile, it doesn't match up. Our bogey was kinda tear dropped shape and fast. Also seemed to know we were looking and didn't want us getting too close.

Still, just in case. Shadow Sea: Iera System.

► **Gentle Jovian** **(Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

I can't say for sure if it was what you're looking for, as we were coming into the Tassrah System of Phoenix Massing, we noted a ship hitting the relay. Thought I'd mention it as she was a big girl and you don't see many dreadnought class ships this far out.

End of Page 1… **234,** 235,236,387

 **Topic: Fuck you Shepard!**

 **In: Boards ► Events ► Omega Nebula ► Omega ► Personal (Public Board)**

 **Night_Stalker (Gold Member Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

Seriously? HERE? You found me HERE? The freaking ALLIANCE couldn't find me here! What the hell did I ever do to you, Shepard? Why are you stalking me? What is it going to take for you to leave me alone?

I came to Omega because it was the LAST place I thought you would EVER find me and what happens?

You not only show up, but you caused a riot! Not a small riot either, but one that had Aria lock down the WHOLE DAMN DISTRICT! My apartment has more bullet holes than the carpet of corpses you left behind! You put a mech through the windshield of my aircar!

Why would you do this? There's no reapers or collectors here! What the fuck would they want with this shithole? Is there ANY place in this galaxy safe from your rampages?

(Showing Page 10 of 15)

► **Dark as Silver**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

Is there any vid of what happened? I haven't seen any yet.

► **TheLastThingYouNeverSee (Verified Bad Turian)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

I was just curious. You've been ranting about that firefight for pages and you're still a subscriber.

Also, I said I was sorry about suggesting that tag. Could you please stop changing mine now? Or better, just delete it?

► **VasPausFan (Verified Believer in Unicorns)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

No. Until mine is fixed, you are the Bad Turian.

► **Night_stalker (Gold Member Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

I'm not saying I don't believe, I just don't understand why you guys need to have firefights focused on _ruining my life!_

Because of Shepard I lost a good job, was entombed in a sealed base with nothing but dead colleges for company, was forced to leave Citadel space or get thrown in jail for breaking quarantine and all that exo geni shit, and just when I think I finally get my life back on track, he shows up and picks a fight with EVERY GANG ON OMEGA!

In a choice between the gangs and Shepard, then I'm glad he won, and I'm not the only one who cheered seeing the Suns, Eclipse and the Pack get slaughtered, but did he have to do that on my FRONT DOOR STEP!

► **TheLastThingYouNeverSee (Verified Bad Turian)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

Have you considered that maybe you should try a different profession? I only ask because it doesn't seem like mercing is working out very well for you.

Or, you can turn yourself into the Alliance. Face the warrant and deal with the repercussions. It's not as if you owe ExoGeni anything and at this point, I doubt there is anything you could add that would upset them. Shepard turned over all the information we collected to the Alliance after we were done on Nodacrux. I don't think our current mission will take us to any Alliance prisons anytime soon, so that might work out for you in the long run.

VasPausFan Come on, this is getting ridiculous. I personally watched them change it not an hour ago. If you stop hacking my account, I'll buy you some turian chocolate.

► **VasPausFan (Verified Believer in Unicorns)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

Not until that damn Unicorn thing is removed. I know it's you who keeps changing it.

► **Uber (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

I got some, Dark as Silver.

Check out this skyjack! [Link]

The look on that guy's face was the funniest shit I've ever seen.

► **Night_stalker (Gold Member Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

I hate you all so much….

► **OriginalDuo (Platinum Member)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

If it's any consolation, Night_stalker, I'm pretty sure they hate you back.

► **Dark as Silver**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

Okay. I have officially seen everything now.

I still can't figure out which of those vids freaked me out more. The swarm of bugs doing the crazy things they were doing, or that skyjack.

That's the kind of thing you see in a Blasto vid, not real life!

End of Page 1… **10,** 11,12,13,14,15

 **Topic: The Crew**

 **In: Boards ► People ► The Exiled (Gold Membership Thread**

 **Siren (Verified Cape, Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/2/2185:**

Hi! I'm Siren. Everyone can ask us general questions and get answers here. Might not be from the one you wanted to answer though, not all of us are big on the forums.

(Showing Page 40 of 48)

► **Garm568 (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/20/2185:**

But that doesn't explain what the hell is up with the god damn bugs!

► **Lightwhispers (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/20/2185:**

Shenanigans. That is all.

► **OriginalDuo (Platinum Member)**

 **Posted on 5/20/2185:**

Just to point out, I actually met Matriarch and was part of lifting the siege of Omega's recent block war. On the topic of the bugs, I am only going to say this.

Yes, Matriarch can do that. No, it's not a joke and it's not made up. Yes, it's fucking terrifying to be around it. No, you don't EVER want her mad at you.

The things they did to the vorcha we were fighting….

► **Matriarch (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

I already said this, but I'll say it one more time. I am not ever going to explain how I can do it. I can, and it's not something that can be replicated.

OriginalDuo. Are you still freaking out about that? It's been over a week now. I told you they were friendly and wouldn't bother _you_.

I figured you guys would put the pieces together sooner or later. Check your PM. If the boys agree, PM back. I have other work if you're interested and that doesn't suit.

► **TerraBull (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

I know you guys are super busy with trying to find proof of the reapers and all, but I was talking with a friend of mine about the crew and we were wondering who's with who?

I mean, high risk adrenaline fueled missions and firefights. Lots of high level stress in need of easing. Team romances! Who going out with who and who is still unattached?

The Shipping Chart demands to know!

► **Siren (Verified Cape Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

Um, normally I love this kind of thing but…

They know where I sleep, so I'm not answering that.

(PM Me!)

► **Kalaong (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

You know, it's kinda hard to start a shipping war, when we don't even know what species they are, much less which sex, if applicable.

► **TerraBull (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

The Shipping Chart will find a way.

► **ToNotBe (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

Seriously? They dedicate themselves to being a rebel force to prove the existence of the Reapers, you know those guys who want to kill everyone in the galaxy, and you want to talk about who's _sleeping_ with WHO? Where are your priorities?

Mark me down for Uber/FrustratedPerfection OTP.

► **TerraBull (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

Has FrustratedPerfection even posted at all? I thought that was just a placeholder until that person found time to update it?

Also, noted.

End of Page 1… **40,** 41,42,43,48

 **Topic: Looking for a team**

 **In: Boards ► Games ► N7 Code of Honor: Medal of Duty ► Team Talk (Gold Member Board)**

 **Uber (Verified Cape Original Poster)**

 **Posted on 5/5/2185:**

So I picked this up last time I was on the Citadel and it's pretty kickin. Leet and I took some time to get used to the interface and think we're ready to start tearing shit up. Looking for at least two more people to fill out the squad. Would like to run a six man team though.

(Showing Page 16 of 16)

► **Evil Atlas (Not the Admin Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

Good luck with the mission! If you can, let us know how it goes when you get back.

► **Cj1of4 (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

Yeah, let us know guys and good luck. Hopefully it won't take you too long and we can own those BlackGuards again. That never gets old.

► **Uber (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

And we're back!

Stuck in Med Bay at the moment and we got a thing in a few hours with Matriarch but I think I got time for a game.

► **Infiltrait0rN7 (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

Should you seek to utilize this time for entertainment while recuperating from injuries?

► **Uber (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

Not rockin at 100% but I'm good. Anyone else around? The shit that's happened in the last couple of days has been off the chain, even for us. I need to kill some n00b's.

► **Infiltrait0rN7 (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

Query. n00b's?

► **Leet (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

All those pathetic players out there who are good for nothing but target practice.

► **Infiltrait0rN7 (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

n00b's is in reference to the majority of organic species?

► **Uber (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

Pretty much. Who's online Infiltrait0rN7?

► **Infiltrait0rN7 (Gold Member)**

 **Posted on 5/21/2185:**

Both Evil Atlas and Cj1of4 are waiting in lobby for us to join. OriginalDuo is unavailable at this time.

► **Uber (Verified Cape)**

 **Posted on 5/19/2185:**

Sweet. I'm logging in now. You comin Leet?

End of Page 1…13,14,15, **16**

 **Topic: Recent Issues**

 **In: Boards ► Notice ► Technical Support (Public Board)**

 **Matriarch (Verified Cape Admin)**

 **Posted on 5/22/2185:**

Do to unforeseen events, Exiles Online has had several unplanned interruptions. Mostly due to hacking attempts, all of which have been prevented.

To the hackers in question, your ID's have already been sent, complete with your location, to the local authorities of the world you were on when the attempt was made. We have also forwarded the same information to every interested agency we could think of who might have had questions about cyber warfare crimes. Free of charge, of course.

In addition, suitable bounties and contracts with various Soldiers of Fortune (we also provided a cross referenced list of bounties already in place for those same hackers) have been put out on each of you should you evade those same authorities. To any interested party looking for work, PM WardStone for details and offered compensation for your time or for the list of offers others have made for the same people.

For the rest of our responsible members, rest assured our firewalls have not been breached and your information is secure. To ensure it stays that way, Exiles Online will be down for a period of four hours each galactic standard day for the next week as we upgrade our servers.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.


End file.
